- Date
- October 27, 2012, 11:00 local (16:00 UTC)
- Place
- Reklaw, TX
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2369Bates Starduster SA-300
- Defining event
- Landing: Nose over/nose down
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 27, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20121027025019A
- Case key
- 85479
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 recovery from a bounced landing, which resulted in a noseover.
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 he was landing on a private grass airstrip and that the grass was wet from the previous night’s rain. He stated that the airstrip was not flat and had sections that rolled up and down. He added that the airplane touched down harder than usual, which caused the landing gear to spread outward on the wet grass. The engine’s propeller was then low enough to contact the rising terrain, and the airplane nosed over. A witness reported that the airplane bounced on the runway about three times before the airplane nosed over. The airplane came to rest in the inverted position, resulting in substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer, top wings, and the engine firewall.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he was landing on a private grass airstrip and that the grass was wet from the previous night’s rain. He stated that the airstrip was not flat and had sections that rolled up and down. He added that the airplane touched down harder than usual, which caused the landing gear to spread outward on the wet grass. The engine’s propeller was then low enough to contract the rising terrain and the airplane nosed over. The airplane came to rest in the inverted position, resulting in substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer, top wings, and the engine firewall. A witness reported that the airplane bounced on the runway about three times, before the airplane nosed over.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2369
- Reported as
- Bates Starduster SA-300
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- DB-1
- Airframe hours
- 915
- Engine
- Cont Motor I0-470 SERIES, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · May 7, 2012
- Departed
- KHQZ · Mesquite, TX
- Destination
- 7TA7 · Reklaw, TX
- Airport
- 7TA7 · Flying M Ranch, runway 02, 3,500 × 50 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
- 69
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 27, 2012
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 1,500 total · 45 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.29 inHg
- Observed at
- KJSO, 13 nm away
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 12, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.4 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 N2369 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.