- Date
- August 12, 2025, 13:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Columbia, SC
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7778MPaschal JR Roy E Velocity XL RG
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Landing gear collapse
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 20, 2025
- 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
- 20250812015479A
- Case key
- 200777
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.
Findings · 1
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
According to the pilot, he was selling the experimental amateur-built airplane and delivering it to the new owner at the time of the accident. During the landing roll, the airplane’s retractable main landing gear collapsed, followed by the nose landing gear collapsing a few seconds later. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the bottom of the fuselage. After the accident, aircraft recovery personnel lifted the airplane and all three-landing gear came down and locked into place. A mechanic then placed the airplane on jacks in a hangar and cycled the landing gear handle to the up position. The main landing gear raised and locked into place. The nose landing gear started to retract but the actuator was bent from impact and did not cycle all the way up. The landing gear handle was lowered to the down position, and the main landing gear came down and locked into place. The nose landing gear came down and locked into place. No evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures were identified with the airplane during the examination.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7778M
- Reported as
- Paschal JR Roy E Velocity XL RG
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 3RX095
- Built
- 2011
- Airframe hours
- 508
- Engine
- Lycoming IO 540 SER, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 7, 2025
- Departed
- FXE · Ft. Lauderdale, FL
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- CAE · Columbia Metro Airport, runway 11, 8,601 × 150 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Auto-pilot, 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
- 51
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 19, 2025
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 676 total · 220 in this make and model · 676 as pilot in command · 16 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,800 ft broken
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.09 inHg
- Observed at
- CAE
- METAR
- KCAE 121734Z 03004KT 10SM BKN018 BKN024 BKN200 29/24 A3009 RMK AO2 T02940244
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 20, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 10.5 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.