- Date
- June 11, 2024, 11:00 local (16:00 UTC)
- Place
- Caney, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N17SDZenith Stol 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
- FAA report
- 20240611007959A
- Case key
- 194445
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,
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 a short field landing, the airplane was high as it crossed the runway threshold. The pilot reduced power and lifted the nose of the airplane. The airplane landed hard, the propeller struck the ground, and the nose landing gear collapsed under the fuselage. The airplane came to rest on its nose and sustained substantial damage to the forward fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N17SD
- Reported as
- Zenith Stol CH 750
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 75-10113
- Built
- 2023
- Airframe hours
- 24
- Engine
- Rotax 912 ULS, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental light sport (Special)
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · September 11, 2023
- Departed
- BYY · Caney, TX
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- BYY · Bay City Regional Airport, runway 13, 5,107 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS
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
- 79
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Sport Pilot
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Sport pilot
- Last flight review
- September 10, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 106 total · 8 in this make and model · 60 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 120° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.88 inHg
- Observed at
- KBYY
- METAR
- KBYY 111555Z AUTO 12003KT 10SM SCT025 SCT034 SCT040 31/23 A2988 RMK AO2 T03080237
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 30, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.5 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.