- Date
- October 11, 2016, 13:36 local (17:36 UTC)
- Place
- Bell, FL
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N686RMMickler Larry J RV6 A
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 7, 2017
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20161011018509A
- Case key
- 94194
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 gusting crosswinds, which resulted in a bounced landing and nose-over.
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/owner was landing at his home airport with a 60°, 10-knot crosswind that was gusting to 14 knots. The pilot stated the wind was "a little gusty" at the time and that the airplane was "right at stall speed" at touchdown. The airplane touched down on the right main landing gear (MLG) and then the left MLG before the pilot lowered the nose landing gear (NLG). He said that, when the NLG touched down, the airplane bounced into a very nose-high attitude, so he "pushed the nose over," and the propeller struck the ground, the airplane nosed over, and it then came to rest inverted. The pilot was seriously injured, and the airframe sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and vertical stabilizer. According to the pilot/owner, the performance and handling of the airplane on the day of the accident was "fine; you couldn't ask for a better airplane."
Factual narrative
The pilot/owner was landing at his home airport with a 60-degree, 10-knot crosswind that was gusting to 14 knots. The pilot stated the wind was "a little gusty" at the time and the airplane was "right at stall speed" at touchdown. The airplane touched down on the right main landing gear, and then the left main gear before the pilot lowered the nose landing gear to the runway. He said that when the nose gear touched down, the airplane bounced into a very nose-high attitude so he "pushed the nose over" and the propeller struck the ground, the airplane nosed over, and came to rest inverted. The pilot was seriously injured and the airframe incurred substantial damage to the fuselage and vertical stabilizer. According to the pilot owner, the performance and handling of the airplane on the day of the accident was "fine… you couldn't ask for a better airplane."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N686RM
- Reported as
- Mickler Larry J RV6 A (A)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 20686
- Built
- 2006
- Airframe hours
- 52
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · October 7, 2016 · 1 hours before
- Departed
- 37FL · Bell, FL
- Destination
- 37FL · Bell, FL
- Airport
- 37FL · Flying Harness Farms, runway 36, 2,400 × 100 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- None
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
- 68
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Unknown
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 800 total · 75 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 60° at 10 knots, gusting 14
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.20 inHg
- Observed at
- KCTY, 15 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 17, 2017, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 903 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.