- Date
- September 27, 2008, 11:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Double Eagle Airport, NM
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1685Bice David E Bearhawk
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 22, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20080927849679A
- Case key
- 69245
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 flared high and failed to maintain directional control. Contributing to the accident were the pilot's unfamiliarity with the airplane and the crosswind.
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
During a visual approach, the private pilot recognized a quartering crosswind for the landing runway. The pilot elected to continue the landing for experience since he had only nine previous landings in this airplane. According to the pilot "I either flared high or allowed the airplane to balloon up after the flare. The airplane dropped maybe three feet after the stall, and after the bounce, it came back to the runway in a slight crab." The pilot attempted to correct for the drift, but the airplane departed the left side of the runway and ground looped. The pilot was not injured. Examination of the airplane revealed that the right gear had collapsed and the right wing spar had bent.
Factual narrative
During a visual approach, the private pilot recognized a quartering crosswind for the landing runway. The pilot elected to continue the landing for experience since he had only nine previous landings in this airplane. According to the pilot "I either flared high or allowed the airplane to balloon up after the flare. The airplane dropped maybe three feet after the stall, and after the bounce, it came back to the runway in a slight crab." The pilot attempted to correct for the drift, but the airplane departed the left side of the runway and ground looped. The pilot was not injured. Examination of the airplane revealed the right gear collapsed and the right wing spar bent.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1685
- Reported as
- Bice David E Bearhawk
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 030-53/54-704
- Engine
- Lycoming 0-360 EXP, 170 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Bice David E
- Registered owner
- Bice David E
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- aeg · Double Eagle Ai, NM
- Destination
- AEG · Double Eagle, NM
- Airport
- AEG · Double Eagle II Airport, runway 22, 7,398 × 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
- 70
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 9, 2008
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,179 total · 10 in this make and model · 1,156 as pilot in command · 14 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N1685 · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.