- Date
- May 23, 2015, 13:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Caledonia, MO
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N198PRLefever Paul M RV12
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Fuel related
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 27, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20150523007939A
- Case key
- 91247
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 selection of unsuitable terrain for a precautionary landing, which resulted in a nose over.
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
In an email sent to a Federal Aviation Administration Aviation Safety Inspector by the pilot, he reported that he was unable to manipulate the fuel station pumps where he had landed, so he decided to fly to another airfield that was about 20 miles away. The pilot wrote that somehow he did not make the right turn and became "lost". After noticing that his fuel level was low, he decided to make an off airport precautionary landing. The pilot reported that during the landing, the airplane's nose wheel caught "heavy grass" and nosed over sustaining substantial damage to the fuselage and both wings.
Factual narrative
In an email sent to a Federal Aviation Administration Aviation Safety Inspector by the pilot, he reported that he was unable to manipulate the fuel station pumps where he had landed, so he decided to fly to another airfield that was about 20 miles away. The pilot wrote that somehow he did not make the right turn and became "lost". After noticing that his fuel level was low, he decided to make an off airport precautionary landing. The pilot reported that during the landing, the airplane's nose wheel caught "heavy grass" and nosed over sustaining substantial damage to the fuselage and both wings. Due to the pilot's failure to cooperate with the National Transportation Safety Board investigation, it is unknown if there were any pre-impact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. After multiple requests, the pilot did not return the National Transportation Safety Board Form 6120.1 Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report as requested.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N198PR
- Reported as
- Lefever Paul M RV12 (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 120048
- Built
- 2011
- Engine
- Rotax 912ULS, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Lefever Paul M
- Registered owner
- Lefever Paul M
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- H88 · Fredericktown, MO
- Destination
- Farmington, MO
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
- 85
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Unknown
- Flight hours
- 2,000 total · 50 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 11 knots, gusting 17
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 7,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.35 inHg
- Turbulence
- Unknown
- Observed at
- KFAM, 16 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 7, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 350 KB 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.