- Date
- August 12, 2016, 10:00 local (14:00 UTC)
- Place
- London, KY
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N910RKKessinger Roger L Rans Coyote
- Defining event
- Landing: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 15, 2017
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20160812014269A
- Case key
- 93831
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 student pilot's improper recovery from a bounced landing and his subsequent failure to maintain clearance from trees during an attempted go-around.
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
After a 1-hour local flight during which he familiarized himself with the airplane's stall characteristics, the student pilot/owner of the experimental light sport airplane returned to his home airport to practice touch-and-go landings. The airplane bounced during the final landing attempt, and while recovering, the student applied full power to the engine for a go-around. The student stated that the airplane then banked to the right due to the engine's counter-clockwise rotation "p factor effect" and began heading toward a hangar located off the right side of the runway. Due to the airplane's low altitude and airspeed, the student chose to continue the right turn to avoid colliding with the hangar, and once clear of it, tried to climb the airplane to clear an approaching tree line; however, the airplane's right wing struck one of the trees. The airplane then impacted the ground, which resulted in substantial damage to the airframe and serious injuries to the pilot. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane or engine that would have precluded normal operation. He attributed the loss of control during the go-around attempt to his unfamiliarity with the flight characteristics of the counter-clockwise rotation of the airplane's two-stroke engine and his lack of flight experience in experimental light sport airplanes.
Factual narrative
After a 1 hour local flight where he explored the airplane's stall characteristics, the student pilot/owner of the experimental light sport airplane returned to his home airport to practice touch-and-go landings. The pilot "bounced" the airplane during the final landing attempt, and while recovering applied full power to the engine for a go around. The pilot stated that the airplane then banked to the right as a result of the counterclockwise rotating-engine's "p factor effect," and began heading toward a hangar located off the right side of the runway. Due to the airplane's low altitude and airspeed, the pilot elected to continue the right turn to avoid colliding with the hangar, and once clear of it, tried to climb the airplane to clear an approaching tree line. The pilot was unsuccessful in this attempt and the airplane's right wing struck one of the trees. The airplane then impacted the ground, resulting in substantial damage to the airframe and seriously injuring the pilot.The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane or its engine that would have precluded normal operation. He further attributed the loss of control during the go around attempt to his unfamiliarity with the flight characteristics of the counter clockwise rotation of the airplane's two-stroke engine, and his lack of flight experience in experimental light sport airplanes.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N910RK
- Reported as
- Kessinger Roger L Rans Coyote (SUPERSIX)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 296
- Built
- 2007
- Airframe hours
- 36.9
- Engine
- Rotax 503 DCDI, 50 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental light sport (Special)
- Departed
- LOZ · London, KY
- Destination
- LOZ · London, KY
- Airport
- LOZ · London-Corbin Arpt-Magee Field, runway 24, 5,751 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Airframe parachute
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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 78
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Student
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 287 total · 2 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- KLOZ
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 25, 2017, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.8 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.