- Date
- September 6, 2010, 09:27 local (13:27 UTC)
- Place
- Winterville, NC
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N374WZNorth Wing Uum Sport X2
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 5, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20100906044659A
- Case key
- 77214
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 loss of directional control while landing during an encounter with a wind gust.
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 reported that he made a normal approach to the runway with a light headwind in his experimental light sport, weight-shift trike. During the landing flare, with the trike about 5 to 10 feet above the ground, it encountered a gust of wind. The pilot was unable to straighten the trike and it impacted the ground, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. The wind was reported as calm at an airport 8 miles to the north at the time of the accident.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he made a normal approach to the runway with a "light head wind" in his experimental light sport, weight-shift trike. During the landing flare, when the trike was about 5 to 10 feet off the ground, "an unexpected gust or ground turbulence threw [the trike] sharp right off the runway." The pilot was unable to straighten the trike, which then impacted the ground, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported no preexisting mechanical anomalies with the trike. The winds were reported as calm at an airport 8 miles to the north at the time of the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N374WZ
- Reported as
- North Wing Uum Sport X2
- Category
- Weight-shift
- Serial number
- LS7012
- Airframe hours
- 65
- Engine
- Rotax 582, 65 horsepower
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Carroll Liverman
- Registered owner
- Carroll Liverman
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental light sport (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 27, 2010
- Departed
- NC47 · Winterville, NC
- Destination
- NC47 · Winterville, NC
- Airport
- NC47 · South Oak Aerodrome, runway 07, 1,850 × 50 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
- 55
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 79 total · 70 in this make and model · 52 as pilot in command · 30 in the last 90 days · 18 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.18 inHg
- Observed at
- PGV, 8 nm away
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 18, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 7.7 MB 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.