- Date
- May 31, 2020, 16:45 local (21:45 UTC)
- Place
- Worthington, MN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N638RMZenair CH601
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20200531007289A
- Case key
- 101361
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 excessive brake application during the landing roll to avoid an animal on the runway, which resulted in a ground loop.
Findings · 2
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 was landing the tailwheel-equipped airplane with a gusting, left quartering headwind. He stated that during the landing roll, he saw a fox run across the runway in front of the airplane, so he applied hard pressure to the brakes. He added that the tailwheel spun around, the airplane violently twisted to the left, and the right main landing gear bent under the airplane. He taxied the airplane to the ramp with difficulty. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing immediately above the landing gear. The right tailwheel chain was broken. There was no evidence of an animal strike on the airplane and there was no carcass found on the runway.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N638RM
- Reported as
- Zenair CH601 (HD)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 23082
- Built
- 2012
- Airframe hours
- 238
- Engine
- Subaru EA-81, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- HCD · Hutchinson, MN
- Destination
- OTG · Worthington, MN
- Airport
- OTG · Worthington Muni, runway 18, 4,200 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS, Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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
- 65
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Sport pilot, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 31, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 710 total · 30 in this make and model · 710 as pilot in command · 8.5 in the last 90 days · 5.5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 19 knots, gusting 24
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.10 inHg
- Observed at
- KOTG, 1 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 1, 2020, 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.