- Date
- August 20, 2024, 18:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Charleston, WV
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N335BECanadian Light Acft Sales &Svc Bushcaddy Explorer R80
- 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
- 20240820011229A
- Case key
- 194976
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 while landing in a crosswind, which resulted in a ground loop and subsequent landing gear collapse.
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 was landing the tailwheel-equipped airplane at the end of an uneventful cross-country flight. During the landing roll the airplane “weathervane[d]” into the prevailing left crosswind, and then began to swerve as the pilot made corrections with inputs to the rudder and ailerons. The airplane continued to swerve, resulting in a ground loop to the left. During the ground loop, the right main landing gear collapsed, and the right wing subsequently struck the runway, resulting in 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
- N335BE
- Reported as
- Canadian Light Acft Sales &Svc Bushcaddy Explorer R80
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- BCLSA(AT)148
- Built
- 2008
- Airframe hours
- 213
- Engine
- Rotax 912ULS SERIES, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Special light-sport (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 1, 2024
- Departed
- CHO · Charlottesville, VA
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- CRW · West Virginia Intl Yeager, runway 05, 6,715 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic flight bag or handheld device, 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
- 58
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Private, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 25, 2024
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 3,334 total · 12 in this make and model · 2,192 as pilot in command · 79 in the last 90 days · 22 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 320° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 7,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.10 inHg
- Observed at
- CRW
- METAR
- KCRW 202225Z 32006KT 10SM SCT055 BKN070 22/08 A3010 RMK AO2 T02170078
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 27, 2024, 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.
Other investigations on N335BE · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.