- Date
- April 7, 2010, 19:40 local (23:40 UTC)
- Place
- Greensboro, NC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N332JMMason Aventura II
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 12, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20100407031042A
- Case key
- 75686
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 inadequate compensation for a wind gust during the landing approach, which resulted in a loss of directional control.
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
The pilot of the experimental amateur-built airplane was on approach to land on runway 27. The pilot reported that, when the airplane was about 30 to 40 feet above the ground, it experienced a sudden gust of wind which resulted in a loss of altitude and a veer to the left. The airplane sustained substantial damage to its left wing when it struck a parked, unoccupied airplane before coming to rest on the ground. A weather observation taken at an airport located about 8 miles northeast of the accident site, about the time of the accident, reported winds from 200 degrees at 13 knots. The reported winds 1 hour before and 1 hour after that observation were from 210 degrees at 20 knots, gusting to 28 knots, and from 220 degrees at 17 knots, gusting to 24 knots, respectively.
Factual narrative
The pilot of the experimental amateur-built airplane was on approach to land on runway 27, a 2,460-foot-long, 65-foot-wide, runway. The pilot reported that when the airplane was about 30 to 40 above the ground, it experienced a sudden gust of wind which resulted in a loss of altitude and a veer to the left. The airplane sustained substantial damage to its left wing, when it struck a parked, unoccupied airplane before coming to rest on the ground. The pilot reported 4,539 hours of total flight experience, which included 45 hours in the same make and model as the accident airplane. A weather observation taken at an airport located about 8 miles northeast of the accident site, about the time of the accident, reported winds from 200 degrees at 13 knots. The reported winds 1 hour before, and 1 hour after that observation were from 210 degrees at 20 knots, gusting to 28 knots, and from 220 degrees at 17 knots, gusting to 24 knots; respectively.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N332JM
- Reported as
- Mason Aventura II
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- AA1A0146
- Airframe hours
- 73
- Engine
- Rotax 912ULS, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- David R. Chesney
- Registered owner
- Joseph E. Mason
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · April 6, 2010 · 4 hours before
- Departed
- DAN · Danville, VA
- Destination
- W88 · Greensboro, NC
- Airport
- W88 · Air Harbor, runway 27, 2,460 × 65 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
- 63
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 29, 2009
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,539 total · 45 in this make and model · 4,334 as pilot in command · 90 in the last 90 days · 57 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 13 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 172 °F, dew point 124 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.87 inHg
- Observed at
- GSO, 8 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 10, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 771 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.