- Date
- April 5, 2024, 14:54 local (19:54 UTC)
- Place
- Lake Elmo, MN · Runway 32
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N245EMVan's RV-12iS
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- 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 Minneapolis FSDO
- FAA report
- 20240405003429A
- Case key
- 194048
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 student pilot’s improper landing flare, which resulted in a bounced landing, and the nose gear collapsing. Contributing to the accident was the student pilot’s lack of experience.
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 solo student pilot was landing the light-sport airplane on the runway when it bounced multiple times. The nose gear collapsed, the propeller struck the ground, and the airplane came to rest upright on the runway in a nose-down attitude. The student pilot was able to exit the airplane without further incident. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The student pilot reported there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or the engine that would have precluded normal operation. The student pilot further reported that the accident could have been prevented by initiating a go-around after the first bounce but concluded that his reason for not initiating a go-around, was due to his lack of experience.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N245EM
- Reported as
- Van's RV-12iS
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 12094
- Built
- 2020
- Airframe hours
- 812.6
- Engine
- Rotax Aircraft Engines 912iS, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- TC Asset and Rentals, LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental light sport (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · March 8, 2024
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- 21D · Lake Elmo, runway 14/32, 3,500 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, Auto-pilot, Angle of attack indicator, ADS-B, Electronic primary flight 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
- 20
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 31, 2024
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 49 total · 49 in this make and model · 4 as pilot in command · 30 in the last 90 days · 14 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.16 inHg
- Observed at
- KSTP, 9 nm away
- METAR
- KSTP 051953Z VRB04KT 10SM CLR 14/M02 A3016 RMK AO2 SLP214 T01391022 $
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 9, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.4 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.