- Date
- October 17, 2024, 19:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Sanford, ME · SFM Airport
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N109CTFlight Design Ctsw
- 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
- 20241017016949A
- Case key
- 195371
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 during the landing roll, resulting in a runway excursion and collision with terrain.
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 reported that he was landing the airplane following a local flight, and the wind was reported as light and variable. Shortly after touchdown, the airplane veered to the left of the runway centerline and the pilot corrected with right rudder. The airplane then turned sharply to the right, the pilot lost directional control, and the airplane departed the runway to the right. The nose landing gear collapsed, the wings contacted the ground, and the airplane came to a stop, upright. Federal Aviation Administration inspectors examined the wreckage and reported substantial damage to the wing roots and upper fuselage. They also examined the nose landing gear, nose tire, and nose wheel steering system and found no evidence of a preexisting mechanical failure or malfunction.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N109CT
- Reported as
- Flight Design Ctsw
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 04-12-05
- Built
- 2005
- Airframe hours
- 732
- Engine
- Rotax ULS 912, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · April 18, 2024 · 38 hours before
- Airport
- SFM · Sanford Seacoast Regional, runway 32, 4,999 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS, ADS-B, Auto-pilot, 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
- 27
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 3, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 137 total · 36 in this make and model · 86 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.19 inHg
- Observed at
- KSFM
- METAR
- METAR KSFM 172156Z AUTO 27003KT 10SM CLR 09/03 A3019 RMK AO2 SLP229 T00940028
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 21, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.3 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 N109CT · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.