- Date
- October 26, 2021, 13:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Benton, IL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N816ZHHall Terrence / Hall Cathie Cruzer CH-750
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- 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
- FAA Flight Standards
- FAA report
- 20211026018159A
- Case key
- 104168
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 landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing and the nose landing gear collapsing.
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 reported that during landing following a local test flight of the amateur-built airplane, the airplane landed hard on the nose landing gear causing it to separate from the airplane. The airplane subsequently departed the left side of the runway and came to rest. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the lower fuselage, cabin floor, and aft cabin bulkhead. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot also reported the final approach was stable and was aware that the airplane’s nose tended to drop without minimal engine power at landing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N816ZH
- Reported as
- Hall Terrence / Hall Cathie Cruzer CH-750
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 75-10581
- Built
- 2018
- Airframe hours
- 23
- Engine
- Viking 130, 130 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight test · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 26, 2021 · 23 hours before
- Departed
- H96 · Benton, IL
- Airport
- H96 · Benton Municipal, runway 36, 4,002 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display, ADS-B, Angle of attack indicator, Data recorder, Electronic multifunction display
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
- BasicMed, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 13, 2021
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 207 total · 10 in this make and model · 207 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
- Observed at
- MWA, 16 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 18, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.9 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.