- Date
- September 14, 2021, 14:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Andover Township, NJ · Airport runway
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N948FSAmerican Legend AL3
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Nose over/nose down
- 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
- 20210914017479A
- Case key
- 103941
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 excessive asymmetrical application of the brakes, which resulted in a nose over.
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 student pilot was landing the tailwheel-equipped airplane on a soft turf runway that had experienced heavy rainfall the evening before. Upon touchdown, about a third of the way down the runway, the airplane bounced slightly before settling onto the turf; the pilot applied the brakes during the landing roll, the airplane turned left, then immediately nosed over and came to rest inverted. The impact resulted in substantial damage to the wing struts and vertical stabilizer. The pilot stated that the airplane had no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N948FS
- Reported as
- American Legend AL3
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- AL-1053
- Built
- 2006
- Airframe hours
- 562
- Engine
- Continental O-200, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Special light-sport (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 1, 2021
- Departed
- 3N6 · Old Bridge, NJ
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- 12N · Aeroflex-Andover, runway 03/21, 1,981 × 50 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Onboard weather
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
- 65
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Sport pilot
- Last flight review
- September 14, 2021
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 187 total · 15 in this make and model · 40 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- 12N
- METAR
- METAR K12N 141854Z AUTO VRB03KT 27/21 A3004 RMK AO1 SLP166 T02670206=
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 5, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.8 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.