- Date
- February 17, 1985, 15:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Mt. Vernon, IL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N101MWRutan Varieze
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850217003619A
- Case key
- 13006
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The acft lndg gear collapsed after several lndgs. The plt was practicing touch & go lndgs and completed 5 circuits. During the 6th lndg the main gear collapsed at touchdown. The nose gear then collapsed this model varieze was equipped with a lndg gear that was found to be too weak. Later versions had an improved system which was stronger. No provision to make the change madatory had been made.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N101MW
- Reported as
- Rutan Varieze
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24
- Airframe hours
- 295
- Engine
- Continental O-200, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Martin A. Cox
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 19, 1984 · 50 hours before
- Airport
- MVN · Mt Vernon, runway 33, 3,149 × 100 ft, asphalt
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
- 34
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 680 total · 42 in this make and model · 624 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 20,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 43 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BLV
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.