- Date
- October 9, 2012, 11:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Durango, CO
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N764JMMace Justin I Dragonfly
- Defining event
- Landing-aborted after touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 10, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- FAA report
- 20121009024429A
- Case key
- 85404
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 delayed decision to perform a go-around, which resulted in the airplane impacting trees. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s inexperience in the accident airplane and his encounter with conditions that exceeded his capabilities.
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 each of three previous attempts to land at the destination airport, he encountered turbulence just before the airplane touched down and decided to perform go-arounds. He stated that during the accident landing, the airplane was not properly aligned with the runway centerline before touchdown due to his “over-correction of the rudder.” The pilot applied power to perform another go-around, and the airplane began to “porpoise” as the pilot attempted to climb away from the runway. The airplane collided with trees, and the wing and canard sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot further stated that he was inexperienced in the accident airplane in turbulence near ground level and that he should have revised his destination to an airport with a wider runway and no nearby trees.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that while attempting to land at the airport, he encountered turbulence just before the airplane touched down. The airplane alignment prior to touchdown was approximately 20 degrees off of runway centerline due to over-correction of the rudder. The pilot applied power to execute a go-around and the airplane began to porpoise as the pilot attempted to climb away from the runway. The airplane collided with trees and the wing and canard sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N764JM
- Reported as
- Mace Justin I Dragonfly
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 764
- Airframe hours
- 1,350
- Engine
- Cont Motor O-200 SERIES, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 7, 2012
- Departed
- AEG · Albuquerque, NM
- Destination
- 00C · Durango, CO
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- 00C · Animas Air Park, runway 01, 5,000 × 50 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
- 49
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 25, 2012
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 399 total · 6 in this make and model · 399 as pilot in command · 14 in the last 90 days · 14 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 7 knots, gusting 10
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 34 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.13 inHg
- Observed at
- 00C, 7 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 25, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 772 KB 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.