- Date
- May 28, 2000, 17:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Taylor, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N427LMHard Capella XLS
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 2, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000528009839A
- Case key
- 49363
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. A factor was the pilot's lack of experience in the make and model of the accident aircraft.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot was attempting a short-field landing to runway 17. During the landing roll, the pilot lost directional control of the airplane resulting in a 'tight ground loop to the left.' The pilot attempted to stop the turn with opposite rudder and braking. Subsequently, the airplane exited the left side of the runway, collapsing the right main landing gear, and came to rest upright. The pilot had accumulated a total of 3 hours in the airplane make and model.
Factual narrative
On May 28, 2000, at 1700 central daylight time, N427LM, a Hard Capella XLS amateur-built experimental airplane, was substantially damaged following a loss of control during the landing roll at the Taylor Municipal Airport, Taylor, Texas. The private pilot, who was the registered owner and sole occupant of the airplane, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight, for which no flight plan was filed. The flight originated, approximately 30 minutes prior to the accident, from the Taylor Municipal Airport.
On the NTSB Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report (NTSB Form 6120.1/2) and a in telephone interview conducted by the investigator-in-charge, the pilot stated that he was attempting a short-field landing to runway 17. During the landing roll, the pilot lost directional control of the tail-wheel equipped airplane resulting in a "tight ground loop to the left." The pilot attempted to stop the turn with opposite rudder and braking. Subsequently, the airplane exited the left side of the 150-foot wide runway, collapsing the right main landing gear, and came to rest upright.
According to the FAA inspector who examined the airplane, the right main landing gear separated from its attaching point, and the lift strut for the right wing separated at the fuselage attaching point.
The pilot had accumulated a total of 3 hours in the airplane make and model.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N427LM
- Reported as
- Hard Capella XLS (CAPELLA XL)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- FW2680TR1729
- Engine
- Rotax 912, 80 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Jim G. Hard
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- T74
- Airport
- T74 · Taylor Muncipal Airport, runway 17, 3,500 × 150 ft, asphalt
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
- 49
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 171 total · 3 in this make and model · 130 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 93 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.