- Date
- January 5, 2025, 15:26 local (20:26 UTC)
- Place
- Norfolk, VA · RWY 23, slid off the side onto a taxiway
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N160MHHinson Melvin J Velocity
- Defining event
- Landing: Landing gear collapse
- 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
- 20250105000539A
- Case key
- 199507
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
A landing gear collapse during landing in gusty crosswind conditions.
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
At the conclusion of an uneventful cross-country flight, the pilot of the experimental amateur-built airplane entered the traffic pattern at the destination airport and extended the airplane’s landing gear. He then observed a normal “down and locked” indication on the airplane’s avionics and continued the landing approach. The pilot described that the wind was coming from the right during the approach, with a reported velocity of about 6 knots, gusting to 18 knots. Shortly after touching down on the runway, the pilot described that there was an abnormal vibration, after which he lost directional control of the airplane. He responded by applying full rudder and brake in an attempt to counter the crosswind. The airplane continued in an uncontrolled slide and drifted left until it came to rest at the left edge of the runway. The airplane’s main landing gear collapsed during the accident sequence and the lower aft and left side of the fuselage were substantially damaged. Additionally, the nose landing gear’s wheel separated at the fork during the accident sequence. Postaccident examination of the landing gear extension/retraction system revealed that it operated normally.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N160MH
- Reported as
- Hinson Melvin J Velocity
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- DMO-302
- Built
- 1995
- Airframe hours
- 813.9
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-EXP, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · December 17, 2024 · 12 hours before
- Departed
- FMY · Fort Meyers, FL
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- ORF · Norfolk Intl, runway 23, 9,001 × 150 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Auto-pilot, ADS-B, Electronic primary flight display, Electronic multifunction 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
- 48
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- BasicMed, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,507 total · 256 in this make and model · 2,106 as pilot in command · 18 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 6 knots, gusting 18
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 45 °F, dew point 3 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.16 inHg
- Observed at
- ORF
- METAR
- KORF 051951Z 30006G18KT 10SM CLR 07/M16 A3016 RMK AO2 SLP211 T00671161
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 3, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.4 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.