- Date
- January 2, 2015, 17:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Eustis, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N516VBDayton A Babcock Storm
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 29, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20150102000479A
- Case key
- 90685
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 adequate spacing from the preceding aircraft during a formation landing, resulting in an inadvertent "prop wash" encounter, loss of control, and impact with terrain.
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
At the conclusion of a local formation flight, the flight of weight-shift-control aircraft returned to their home airport and entered the traffic pattern. During the landing flare, the accident pilot encountered the "prop wash" of the preceding aircraft, which resulted in his aircraft entering an uncommanded right bank. The pilot attempted to counteract the turn by applying a left banking control input, but the left main landing gear and nose landing gear impacted the ground, and further aggravated the turn. The nose landing gear then collapsed and dug into the soft turf runway, and the aircraft overturned to the right, where it came to rest on its right side. Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the airframe had been substantially damaged during the accident. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures or the aircraft that would have precluded normal operation, and when asked how the accident might have been prevented, the pilot stated, "…I could have performed (possibly) a go-around."
Factual narrative
At the conclusion of a local formation flight, the flight of weight-shift-control aircraft returned to their home airport and entered the traffic pattern. During the landing flare, the accident pilot encountered the "prop wash" of the preceding aircraft, which resulted in his aircraft entering an uncommanded right bank. The pilot attempted to counteract the turn by applying a left banking control input, but the left main landing gear and nose landing gear impacted the ground, and further aggravated the turn. The nose landing gear then collapsed and dug into the soft turf runway, and the aircraft overturned to the right, where it came to rest on its right side. Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the airframe had been substantially damaged during the accident. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures or the aircraft that would have precluded normal operation, and when asked how the accident might have been prevented, the pilot stated, "…I could have performed (possibly) a go-around."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N516VB
- Reported as
- Dayton A Babcock Storm
- Category
- Weight-shift, amateur-built
- Serial number
- TTS61
- Built
- 2014
- Airframe hours
- 25
- Engine
- Suzuki G13B, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Lake Hoppers Air Adventures, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Lake Hoppers Air Adventures, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · August 12, 2014 · 25 hours before
- Departed
- X55 · Eustis, FL
- Destination
- X55 · Eustis, FL
- Airport
- X55 · Mid Florida Air Service, runway 36, 3,200 × 80 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS
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
- 56
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport, Sport Pilot
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 9, 2014
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 15,000 total · 350 in this make and model · 2,500 as pilot in command · 200 in the last 90 days · 211 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 7,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.21 inHg
- Observed at
- LEE, 10 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 16, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.1 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.
Other investigations on N516VB · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.