- Date
- March 23, 1992, 16:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Kenosha, WI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N39LRutan Varieze
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 26, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920323007509A
- Case key
- 15243
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
Collapse of the nose landing gear.
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 pilot of the amateur built airplane was conducting landings and takeoffs. On the fifth landing, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane slid to a stop on the runway with substantial damage. Subsequent examination failed to reveal a reason for the collapse.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N39L
- Reported as
- Rutan Varieze
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 988
- Airframe hours
- 7
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Richard W. Cobean
- Registered owner
- Richard W. Cobean
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 23, 1991 · 7 hours before
- Airport
- ENW · Kenosha Muni, runway 24, 5,500 × 100 ft
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
- 73
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 517 total · 7 in this make and model · 517 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 99 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 45 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.