- Date
- September 16, 2025, 16:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Lincoln Park, NJ · Hit a parked Mooney and a tree
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N272BHPipistrel Lsa S R L Virus 912 LSA
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 30, 2026
- 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
- 20250916020139A
- Case key
- 201023
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 inadequate compensation for variable wind conditions, which resulted in a hard landing and loss of directional control.
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 conducting his third landing attempt in variable wind conditions. He reported encountering a tailwind on final approach, followed by a sudden downdraft near the runway’s landing threshold. The airplane touched down hard, bounced, and subsequently veered off the right side of the runway. The pilot attempted to slow the airplane by applying the brakes but was unable to stop. The left wing impacted a parked airplane, and the right wing collided with a tree, which resulted in substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N272BH
- Reported as
- Pipistrel Lsa S R L Virus 912 LSA
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 992 VN 912 LSA
- Built
- 2019
- Airframe hours
- 116.4
- Engine
- Rotax 912ULS SERIES, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Special light-sport (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 15, 2024
- Departed
- OZW · Howell, MI
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- N07 · Lincoln Park Airport, runway 19, 2,767 × 40 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, ADS-B, Auto-pilot
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
- 81
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Waiver time limited special
- Last flight review
- July 22, 2025
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 650 total · 134 in this make and model · 150 as pilot in command · 16 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.23 inHg
- Turbulence
- Moderate
- Observed at
- KCDW, 5 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KCDW 161653Z 09007KT 060V130 10SM CLR 23/13 A3023 RMK AO2 SLP242 T02280128=
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 30, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.2 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.