- Date
- December 9, 2020, 11:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Blountstown, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N706SFFord Stephen L Super Chief
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20201209017179A
- Case key
- 102444
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 directional control of the airplane during the landing.
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 was recovering from a recent illness and described that after hand-propping the tailwheel-equipped airplane’s engine to start it, he had become extremely tired. Later during the flight, he realized that he was too tired to continue and returned to the departure airport to land. During the landing he lost control of the airplane. In addition to the landing gear, the airplane’s left wing and fuselage were substantially damaged during the accident. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N706SF
- Reported as
- Ford Stephen L Super Chief
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1
- Built
- 2008
- Engine
- Cont Motor A-65-8, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ford, Stephen L
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · April 1, 2020
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- F95 · Calhoun County, runway 18, 3,730 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Unknown
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
- 64
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 655 total · 200 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 50 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.22 inHg
- Observed at
- MAI, 21 nm away
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 15, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.1 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.