- Date
- June 27, 2009, 13:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Ware, MA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1879GChampion 7GCAA
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 21, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20090627857209A
- Case key
- 76287
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 failure to maintain control of the airplane during landing.
Findings · 1
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 stated that an annual inspection of the airplane had just been completed and that he was flying the airplane from that location to his home airstrip. The wind was on the nose of the airplane and as he approached the runway for a full stop landing, his approach speed was 55 mph. When the airplane was approximately 1 foot above the runway for a three point landing, the airspeed decreased and the nose dropped. The propeller contacted the soft ground and the airplane nosed over, damaging the vertical stabilizer and right wing lift struts. The pilot reported that there was nothing mechanically wrong with the airplane that caused the accident to occur.
Factual narrative
The pilot stated that an annual inspection of the airplane had just been completed and that he was flying the airplane from that location to his home airstrip. The wind was on the nose of the airplane and as he approached the runway for a full stop landing, his approach speed was 55 mph. When the airplane was approximately 1 foot above the runway for a three point landing, the airspeed decreased and the nose dropped. The propeller contacted the soft ground and the airplane nosed over, damaging the vertical stabilizer and right wing lift struts. The pilot reported that there was nothing mechanically wrong with the airplane that caused the accident to occur. The pilot did not report the accident to NTSB. An individual attempting to purchase the airplane noted the damage and alerted the Federal Aviation Administration, who in turn notified NTSB on June 10, 2010.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1879G
- Reported as
- Champion 7GCAA
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 65
- Airframe hours
- 1,464
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Richard C. O'Riley
- Registered owner
- Mucha Colleen M
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 27, 2009
- Departed
- 0B5 · Montague, MA
- Destination
- MA53 · Ware, MA
- Airport
- MA53 · Ware Airport, runway 20, 2,030 × 150 ft, grass/turf
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
- 68
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 19, 2007
- Flight hours
- 946 total · 200 in this make and model · 946 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.71 inHg
- Observed at
- ORH, 15 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 27, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 969 KB 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.