- Date
- August 21, 2021, 11:00 UTC
- Place
- Mount Holly, NJ · On airport, off runway
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N838WTVans RV7
- Defining event
- Landing: 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
- 20210821014669A
- Case key
- 103749
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 improper recovery from a bounced landing, resulting in a touchdown on the nose gear first, resulting in damage to the nose gear and a runway excursion.
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 reported that the wind was light and variable as he entered the pattern for landing. All parameters were normal until he flared the airplane for landing. The main gear touched down and the airplane bounced. As the pilot continued the landing attempt, the nose gear touched down first and the airplane immediately veered to the left, departed the runway into the soft ground, and nosed over. The empennage and upper fuselage sustained substantial damage and the pilot had minor injuries. An examination of the nose landing gear revealed that it bent over during the impact. No mechanical malfunction of the nose gear was found. Scrape marks on the runway were consistent with contact on the strut.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N838WT
- Reported as
- Vans RV7 (A)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 70556
- Built
- 2021
- Airframe hours
- 830
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-H2AD, 160 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · April 28, 2021 · 30 hours before
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- VAY · South Jersey Rgnl, runway 08/26, 3,881 × 50 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, Auto-pilot, ADS-B, Onboard weather, 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
- 77
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- BasicMed
- Last flight review
- June 25, 2021
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 1,252 total · 830 in this make and model · 1,150 as pilot in command · 23 in the last 90 days · 13 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,800 ft broken
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.90 inHg
- Observed at
- KVAY
- METAR
- METAR KVAY 211754Z AUTO VRB03KT 10SM SCT018 BKN028 27/22 A2990 RMK AO2 SLP126 60000 T02720222 10278 20228 56004
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 27, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.2 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.