- Date
- May 5, 2022, 09:25 local (13:25 UTC)
- Place
- Culpepper, VA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N701VXCharles R Kyle Zenith Stol CH 701
- 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
- 20220505020569A
- Case key
- 105068
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 the proper glidepath, which resulted in a hard landing and landing gear collapse.
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 he completed two landings uneventfully. During the third approach, the airplane was high, and the pilot attempted to recover the approach while maintaining an airspeed of 60 mph. The airplane developed a high sink rate and landed hard, which resulted in substantial damage to the lower fuselage. During the landing, the nose gear collapsed and the airplane skidded about 50 ft before coming to rest upright on the runway. The pilot added that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N701VX
- Reported as
- Charles R Kyle Zenith Stol CH 701
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 7-6028
- Built
- 2022
- Airframe hours
- 5
- Engine
- Rotax 912 ULS, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · March 10, 2022 · 5 hours before
- Airport
- CJR · Culpeper Regional Airport, runway 4, 5,000 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Data recorder, Angle of attack indicator, ADS-B, Electronic primary flight display, Electronic multifunction display
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
- 70
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Sport pilot
- Last flight review
- October 4, 2021
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 336 total · 5 in this make and model · 275 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 8 knots, gusting 14
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,700 ft broken
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.13 inHg
- Observed at
- KCJR
- METAR
- METAR KCJR 051335Z AUTO 04008G14KT 10SM BKN027 19/11 A3013
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 25, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.4 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.