- Date
- February 27, 2021, 10:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Englewood, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2614George Matthew Wagoner Zenith 601 HD
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- 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
- 20210227000799A
- Case key
- 102700
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 gusty wind conditions, which resulted in a hard landing. The rough terrain of the runway also contributed to the outcome.
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 was approaching the runway for landing and said that the airplane suddenly encountered a high sink rate due to “wind shear.” The pilot tried to add engine power to compensate, but the airplane landed on the main landing gear and bounced. Once the airplane settled back onto the turf runway, the nosewheel struck a hole in the ground, which he believed was a gopher tortoise burrow. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the underside of the airplane’s fuselage was substantially damaged. A weather reporting station at an airport 6 nautical miles from the accident location reported that a right quartering headwind at 10 knots, gusting to 18 knots, existed about the time of the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2614
- Reported as
- George Matthew Wagoner Zenith 601 HD (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 6-8820
- Built
- 2017
- Airframe hours
- 62.5
- Engine
- Rotax 912 ULS, 100 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Unknown
- Last inspection
- Condition · October 27, 2020
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- X36 · Buchan, runway 12, 2,000 × 100 ft, grass/turf
- 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
- Last flight review
- July 28, 2017
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 348 total · 75 in this make and model · 13 in the last 90 days · 5.1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 10 knots, gusting 18
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.20 inHg
- Observed at
- VNC, 6 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 16, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.7 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.