- Date
- July 13, 2009, 17:48 local (21:48 UTC)
- Place
- North Vernon, IN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N218AWFlight Design Ctsw
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Aerodynamic stall/spin
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 30, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA-Indianapolis FSDO
- Case key
- 74267
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 improper landing flare which resulted in a stall and nose over during touchdown.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that during the landing flare the airplane pulled to the left. He added power and moved the control stick to the right, but without success, and inadvertently stalled the airplane. The airplane landed left wing low and on its nose after falling about three feet. The light sport airplane was not equipped with a stall warning horn. The airplane’s flight training supplement states the following about stalls: “The stall is noted through light buffeting. At 2 kts. (3 mph) above the stall speed, the rudder becomes “soft”. When flying close to stall speed, only the rudder and elevator are fully controllable. The ailerons have less effectiveness in very slow flight.”
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that during the landing flare the airplane pulled to the left. He added power and moved the control stick to the right, but without success, and inadvertently stalled the airplane. The airplane landed left wing low and on its nose after falling about three feet. The light sport airplane was not equipped with a stall warning horn. The airplane’s flight training supplement states the following about stalls: “The stall is noted through light buffeting. At 2 kts. (3 mph) above the stall speed, the rudder becomes “soft”. When flying close to stall speed, only the rudder and elevator are fully controllable. The ailerons have less effectiveness in very slow flight.”
Aircraft
- Registration
- N218AW
- Reported as
- Flight Design Ctsw
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 06-11-07
- Engine
- Rotax 912ULS, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- L&C Burbank Corp
- Registered owner
- L&C Burbank Corp
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental light sport (Special)
- Departed
- OVO · North Vernon, IN
- Destination
- OVO · North Vernon, IN
- Airport
- OVO · North Vernon Municipal, runway 05
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
- 64
- Certificates
- Sport Pilot, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Sport pilot
- Flight hours
- 636 total · 17 in this make and model · 2 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 5, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 695 KB in all.