- Date
- April 23, 1990, 12:00 local (16:00 UTC)
- Place
- Kitty Hawk, NC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N891LHHardy RV-4
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 4, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900423010389A
- Case key
- 8096
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's inadequate compensation for wind conditions, and his failure to maintain control of the aircraft.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
This was the pilot's first landing at this airport. He had just completed a cross-country flight and the wind was gusting to 20 knots. As he was landing on runway 20, the wind picked up a wing, causing the aircraft to leave the left side of the runway. The right wing dug into the sand, the aircraft turned 180 degrees, the nose pitched down and the propeller struck the ground.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N891LH
- Reported as
- Hardy RV-4
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 92
- Airframe hours
- 29
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2A, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Leslie E. Hardy
- Registered owner
- Leslie E Hardy
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 10, 1989 · 29 hours before
- Departed
- Durham, NC
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- FFA · First Flight, runway 20, 3,000 × 60 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 58
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 227 total · 29 in this make and model · 227 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 275° at 10 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.