- Date
- May 9, 2022, 11:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Hendersonville, NC
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7FJJustice Frank K Vans RV-6A
- 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
- 20220509006739A
- Case key
- 105108
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 go-around during an unstable approach, which resulted in a hard landing, runway excursion, and nose over.
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 following a normal approach to landing, about 20 ft above the runway he encountered a “slight tail wind.” He reported that at this point, “I should have gone around” but he believed the landing was salvageable. Subsequently, the airplane touched down hard, and he maneuvered the airplane off the runway into grass where the airplane nosed over. The empennage and fuselage sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7FJ
- Reported as
- Justice Frank K Vans RV-6A (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 22226
- Built
- 1997
- Airframe hours
- 1,602
- Engine
- Lycoming O&VO-360-A1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental light sport (Special)
- Departed
- LKR · Lancaster, SC
- Destination
- 0A7 · Hendersonville, NC
- Airport
- 0A7 · Hendersonville Airport, runway 33, 3,075 × 40 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Onboard weather, Heads up display, Handheld GPS, Electronic primary flight display, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Auto-pilot, Angle of attack indicator
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
- 56
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 5, 2022
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 2,020 total · 25 in this make and model · 25 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.22 inHg
- Observed at
- AVL, 9 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KAVL 091554Z VRB03KT 10SM CLR 13/07 A3022 RMK AO2 SLP223 T01330072=
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 1, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.3 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.