- Date
- November 16, 2009, 15:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Newburgh, NY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N335BWRobert Wood Thorp T18
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 23, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20091116051239A
- Case key
- 75070
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 directional control during the landing rollout.
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 stated that he was conducting his second stop-and-go landing when the airplane touched down with a "very slight bounce." After the airplane settled back onto the runway, it began "pulling" to the left. The pilot stated that he applied right rudder, but the airplane's response was "slow," and the airplane departed the runway into the "wet and muddy" grass. As the airplane decelerated, it nosed over and came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures; nor were any discovered when a Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the airplane following the accident. The weather reporting facility at the accident airport reported winds from 020 degrees at 6 knots about the time of the accident.
Factual narrative
The pilot stated that he was conducting his second stop-and-go landing when the airplane touched down with a "very slight bounce." After the airplane settled back onto the runway, it began "pulling" to the left. The pilot stated that he applied right rudder, but the airplane's response was "slow," and the airplane departed the runway into the "wet and muddy" grass. As the airplane decelerated, it nosed over and came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures; nor were any discovered when a Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the airplane following the accident. The weather reporting facility at the accident airport reported winds from 020 degrees at 6 knots about the time of the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N335BW
- Reported as
- Robert Wood Thorp T18
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 720
- Airframe hours
- 450
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-320, 160 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · April 24, 2009
- Departed
- CZG · Tri Cities, NY
- Destination
- SWF · Newburgh, NY
- Airport
- SWF · Stewart International Airport, runway 09, 11,817 × 150 ft, concrete
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
- 45
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight engineer
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 18, 2009
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 14,000 total · 25 in this make and model · 10,000 as pilot in command · 175 in the last 90 days · 60 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.06 inHg
- Observed at
- SWF
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 8, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 436 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.
Other investigations on N335BW · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.