- Date
- January 14, 2015, 17:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Pikeville, KY
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N32SNShannon William RV6A
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Aerodynamic stall/spin
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 10, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20150114000949A
- Case key
- 90601
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 airspeed during landing, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to obtain a preflight weather briefing, and his subsequent flight into icing conditions, which resulted in the accumulation of ice on the airframe.
Findings · 3
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 had purchased the airplane the day prior, and was returning to his home airport when he elected to stop at an intermediate airport for fuel. After crossing the runway threshold, the pilot reduced engine power and entered the landing flare. He felt the airplane "balloon up slightly, then stall and drop around 15 feet" onto the runway. The airplane impacted the runway, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane subsequently ran off the side of the runway, where it came to rest inverted, resulting in substantial damage to the rudder. Photographs of the airplane taken by the airport manager following the accident depicted the presence of rime ice along the leading edges of the wings, horizontal stabilizer, and vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported that he had not obtained a weather briefing, but had conducted a cursory review of enroute weather via an online vendor prior to the flight, and was not aware of icing conditions along his intended route of flight. He also stated there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot had purchased the airplane the day prior, and was returning to his home airport when he elected to stop at an intermediate airport for fuel. After crossing the runway threshold, the pilot reduced engine power and entered the landing flare. He felt the airplane "balloon up slightly, then stall and drop around 15 feet" onto the runway. The airplane impacted the runway, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane subsequently ran off the side of the runway, where it came to rest inverted, resulting in substantial damage to the rudder. Photographs of the airplane taken by the airport manager following the accident depicted the presence of rime ice along the leading edges of the wings, horizontal stabilizer, and vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported that he had not obtained a weather briefing, but had conducted a cursory review of enroute weather via an online vendor prior to the flight, and was not aware of icing conditions along his intended route of flight. He also stated there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N32SN
- Reported as
- Shannon William RV6A
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 23805
- Built
- 2001
- Airframe hours
- 732
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Norm Cyr Aircraft Sales LLC
- Registered owner
- Norm Cyr Aircraft Sales LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · January 1, 2015 · 6 hours before
- Departed
- FSO · Highgate, VT
- Destination
- M91 · Springfield, TN
- Airport
- PBX · Pike County-Hatcher Field, runway 27, 5,356 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot, Electronic primary flight display, Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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
- 50
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 8, 2014
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 172 total · 7 in this make and model · 108 as pilot in command · 40 in the last 90 days · 18 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,600 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 28 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.22 inHg
- Icing
- Rime
- Observed at
- PBX
Docket · 8
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 13, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 11.7 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.