- Date
- December 31, 2023, 14:13 local (19:13 UTC)
- Place
- Midland, VA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N37GAGolden Avio S R L F30 Brio
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- 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
- 20231231020819A
- Case key
- 193603
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 improper recovery from a bounced landing, which resulted in damage to, and the separation of the nose wheel and fork bracket assembly, and subsequent collapse of the nose landing gear assembly.
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 he aborted a bounced, 3-point landing at a nearby airport and then decided to return to his home airport. During the subsequent landing attempt at his home airport, the nose landing gear collapsed, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage. An examination of the airplane revealed that the nose wheel and nose wheel attach bracket had broken free from the rest of the nose landing gear, and these items were recovered from the aborted landing airport. Following the accident, the pilot reported that he believed that a no-flap landing may prevented the bounced landing. In an interview with the pilot after the accident flight, the pilot also reported that he performed a preflight inspection of the nose landing gear and that he found no mechanical failures or anomalies, and that the nose gear operated normally during taxi and takeoff for the accident flight. Based on this information, it is likely that the pilot’s improper recovery from the bounced landing resulted in damage that ultimately led to the failure of the nose landing gear during the subsequent landing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N37GA
- Reported as
- Golden Avio S R L F30 Brio
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 004CE
- Built
- 2012
- Airframe hours
- 207.8
- Engine
- Rotax 912 ULS, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · July 14, 2023 · 10.7 hours before
- Departed
- XSA · Tappahannock, VA
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- HWY · Warrenton/Fauquier, runway 15, 5,000 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot, Airframe parachute, ADS-B, Handheld GPS, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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
- 52
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 9, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 212 total · 71 in this make and model · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 50 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.98 inHg
- Observed at
- HWY
- METAR
- METAR KHWY 311915Z AUTO 23004KT 10SM CLR 10/M03 A2998 RMK AO2 T00971035=
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 21, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 8.6 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.