- Date
- May 25, 2023, 07:00 local (11:00 UTC)
- Place
- Limington, ME
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N970CEThompson Edward LM-5X-W
- Defining event
- Landing: Collision during takeoff/land
- 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
- 20230525008629A
- Case key
- 192234
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 inadequate compensation for the gusty crosswind conditions, which resulted in a collision with a tree during landing.
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 pilot reported that despite the winds being calm at the surface, shortly after departing for the accident flight he encountered gusty wind above the trees near the airport. He continued around the traffic pattern and planned to land in an area of grass next to the paved runway. During the final approach to land, a sudden gust of wind pushed the airplane to the right of the runway toward trees and a hangar. The pilot described that there was not enough time to initiate a go around before the airplane contacted a tree and then the hangar. The airplane came to rest upside down on the ground and the fuselage and both wings were substantially damaged. The pilot reported that there no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N970CE
- Reported as
- Thompson Edward LM-5X-W
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1001
- Built
- 2019
- Airframe hours
- 10
- Engine
- Valley Engineering VW 2276, 80 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · October 31, 2022
- Airport
- 63B · Limington-Harmon, runway 29, 2,000 × 50 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- None
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
- 76
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- BasicMed, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 28, 2022
- Flight hours
- 982 total · 10 in this make and model · 945 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 4 knots
- Temperature
- 53 °F
- Observed at
- PWM, 17 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 7, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 76.4 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.