- Date
- September 9, 2017, 08:45 local (14:45 UTC)
- Place
- Ramah, NM
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N70RVShiner RV-4
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Collision during takeoff/land
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 14, 2017
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20170909011449A
- Case key
- 95986
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 failure to maintain clearance from berms during landing in sun glare conditions.
Findings · 4
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 that the sun was in his eyes as he was landing his low-wing airplane. He said that there were 3-ft-high berms in the area where the airplane touched down and that the runway was about 30 ft wide. The left wing struck the berm and the weeds. The propeller then impacted the berm, followed by the right wing and tailwheel. The right wing sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions of the airplane.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he was landing his low wing airplane. The pilot stated that the sun was in his eyes when he was landing the airplane. He said that the berms were 3 ft high in the area where the airplane touched down and the runway was about 30 ft wide. The left wing struck the berm and the weeds. The airplane's propeller then impacted the berm followed by the right wing and tailwheel. The right wing sustained substantial damage during the impact with the berm. The pilot reported that there were no airplane mechanical malfunctions.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N70RV
- Reported as
- Shiner RV-4
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 2139
- Built
- 1991
- Airframe hours
- 1,264
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D1A, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · November 16, 2016
- Departed
- E98 · Los Lunas, NM
- Destination
- NM56 · Ramah, NM
- Airport
- NM56 · Mystic Bluffs, runway 06, 2,870 × 40 ft, dirt
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
- 74
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 26, 2017
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 1,414 total · 750 in this make and model · 1,383 as pilot in command · 17 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.31 inHg
- Observed at
- KGUP, 27 nm away
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 19, 2017, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.7 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.