- Date
- July 30, 2012, 12:15 local (17:15 UTC)
- Place
- Hutchinson, KS
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N460CTFlight Design Ctsw
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 9, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20120730029019A
- Case key
- 84529
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 loss of directional control during the landing roll.
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
During the landing roll on a grass airstrip, the airplane encountered a wind shift and began to skid to the left. The pilot turned the airplane in order to level the wings and stop the skid; however, the airplane departed the runway at a 30-degree angle, encountered soft ground, and nosed over. The aft spar in the vertical stabilizer and the rudder hinge were broken. During a postaccident examination of the airplane, no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures were found that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
During the landing roll on a grass strip (runway 9) at a private airport, the airplane encountered wind and began to skid to the left. The pilot turned the airplane in order to level the wings and stop the skid; however, the airplane departed the runway at a 30 degree angle and nosed over in the soft ground. The aft spar in the vertical stabilizer and the rudder hinge were broken. According to the Federal Aviation Administration inspector who examined the airplane, no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures were found that would have precluded normal operation. Wind at the time of the accident were recorded as 100 degrees at 6 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N460CT
- Reported as
- Flight Design Ctsw
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 05-07-06
- Airframe hours
- 218
- Engine
- Rotax 912S, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental light sport (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · July 16, 2011
- Departed
- KEQA · El Dorado, KS
- Destination
- PVT · Hutchinson, KS
- Airport
- PVT · Skyview Airport, runway 09, 2,500 × 70 ft, grass/turf
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
- 62
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Private, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Sport pilot
- Last flight review
- February 2, 2011
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,418 total · 2 in this make and model · 1,418 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 100° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 91 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.95 inHg
- Observed at
- KHUT, 8 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 22, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.9 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N460CT · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.