- Date
- April 17, 2026, 10:52 local (15:52 UTC)
- Place
- Crestview, FL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N621CMDonald E Johnston Velocity XL-RG
- Defining event
- Landing: Landing gear not configured
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 11, 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
- 20260417004039I
- Case key
- 202859
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 extend the landing gear before landing.
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
After performing a practice instrument approach, the pilot performed a touch-and-go landing and remained in the airport traffic pattern for another landing. The pilot reported that the traffic pattern was busy, and that he was focused on a much slower airplane flying ahead of him. The pilot stated that he would normally put the landing gear down on downwind, but due to the distraction of the other traffic, he forgot to extend the landing gear. During the landing, the airplane skidded down the runway with the landing gear retracted and exited into the adjacent grass area resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage. The airplane was equipped with a landing gear position warning horn. The pilot stated that it was not wired through the intercom system, and that with his noise-canceling headset, it was rarely audible. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N621CM
- Reported as
- Donald E Johnston Velocity XL-RG
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 3RX166
- Built
- 2015
- Airframe hours
- 374.4
- Engine
- Cont Motor IO-550-N, 310 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 23, 2025
- Departed
- BCR · Bonifay, FL
- Destination
- BCR · Bonifay, FL
- Airport
- CEW · Bob Sikes, runway 17, 8,006 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot, ADS-B, Stall warning system, Electronic primary flight display, Electronic multifunction display, Data recorder
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
- 63
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 8, 2026
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 6,341 total · 140 in this make and model · 4,750 as pilot in command · 172 in the last 90 days · 72 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
- Observed at
- CEW
- METAR
- METAR KCEW 171553Z AUTO 09004KT 10SM CLR 27/17 A3012 RMK AO2 SLP196 T02720167=
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 10, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 10.4 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.