- Date
- October 8, 2023, 16:45 local (20:45 UTC)
- Place
- Georgetown, KY · On airport
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N27MWMichael J Wright SA300
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- 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
- 20231008015759A
- Case key
- 193209
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 directional control of the airplane during the landing roll in gusting a gusting crosswind, resulting in a runway excursion and nose over.
Findings · 4
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 of the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that he was returning to his home airport after a local flight and the reported wind was from 300° at 9 knots with gusts to 13 knots. He performed a low approach to runway 3 with a direct crosswind. He remained in the traffic pattern for another approach to runway 3. After an uneventful touchdown and initial rollout, with the throttle at idle, the airplane began to veer to the left. He countered with right rudder and was able to maintain his track throughout most of the landing roll. Near the end of the rollout, while still on the paved surface, the airplane veered left more abruptly, and the right wingtip touched the runway. The airplane then departed the runway to the left and nosed over into the grass. The pilot egressed the airplane without injury. An examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to the upper wing, rudder, and vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N27MW
- Reported as
- Michael J Wright SA300
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- M001W
- Built
- 2014
- Airframe hours
- 194
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-C1D6, 200 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · September 5, 2023 · 9 hours before
- Airport
- 27K · Georgetown-Scott County, runway 3, 5,498 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Handheld GPS
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
- 53
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 10, 2022
- Seat
- Rear
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 325 total · 100 in this make and model · 270 as pilot in command · 50 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 10 knots, gusting 17
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.93 inHg
- Observed at
- K27K
- METAR
- K27K 082055Z AUTO 26010G17KT 10SM BKN055 BKN070 OVC085 13/01 A2993 RMK AO1
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 25, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.9 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.