- Date
- September 19, 2024, 19:35 UTC
- Place
- Boulder, CO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N202MMPipistrel Italia S R L Virus SW
- 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
- FAA report
- 20240919015079A
- Case key
- 195148
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 nose down attitude and subsequent porpoised 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 the airplane likely touched down on the nose landing gear first. The pilot stated that the airplane pitched upward immediately after touchdown, followed by episodes of increasing variation in pitch, then a sudden downward pitch, and the collapse of the nose landing gear. The airplane came to rest on the runway and sustained substantial damage to the engine mount and firewall. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N202MM
- Reported as
- Pipistrel Italia S R L Virus SW
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1110 SWN 100 IS LSA
- Built
- 2023
- Airframe hours
- 164
- Engine
- Rotax Aircraft Engines 912 iS, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Journeys Aviation Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Special light-sport (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · January 25, 2024 · 70 hours before
- Departed
- KAEJ · Buena Vista, CO
- Destination
- KBDU · Boulder, CO
- Airport
- KBDU · Boulder Municipal Airport, runway 8, 4,100 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot, Angle of attack indicator, Airframe parachute, ADS-B, 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
- 39
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 435 total · 6 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.01 inHg
- Observed at
- KBDU, 1 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KBDU 191935Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 27/M02 A3001 RMK AO2=
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 8, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.3 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.