- Date
- May 29, 2022, 09:00 local (13:00 UTC)
- Place
- Frederick, MD
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N85EXVan Lehn Hatz Classic
- 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
- 20220529009089I
- Case key
- 105148
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 inadvertent application of the brakes during the landing roll which resulted in a 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, who was also the owner and builder of the tailwheel equipped biplane stated that the purpose of the flight was to perform a “final check” of the airplane’s engine and operating systems. The airplane performed “properly,” and he landed “without issue.” The pilot further stated that at low speed during the landing roll, his foot “became lodged between the bulkhead and the brake” which resulted in a sudden misapplication of the brakes and a nose over event, which fractured a wing strut and substantially damaged the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N85EX
- Reported as
- Van Lehn Hatz Classic (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 194
- Built
- 2022
- Airframe hours
- 1.5
- Engine
- Rotec R3800, 150 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Van Lehn Richard Glenn
- Registered owner
- Van Lehn Richard Glenn
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · May 15, 2022 · 1.5 hours before
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- FDK · Frederick Muni, runway 23, 5,819 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight 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
- 65
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Rear
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 28,000 total · 1.5 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.09 inHg
- Observed at
- KFDK
- METAR
- KFDK 291147Z 00000KT 10SM CLR 17/16 A3009
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 20, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.6 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.