- Date
- October 21, 2015, 11:15 local (18:15 UTC)
- Place
- Gerlach, NV
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N272XRans S-7
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Aerodynamic stall/spin
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 14, 2016
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- Case key
- 92217
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 pitch and airspeed control, in conjunction with full flaps, while maneuvering at a low altitude, resulting in a tail-stall and subsequent impact with the ground.
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
According to the pilot, while flying in a high desert valley, he intended to perform a low pass over a remote airstrip to assess its suitability for landing in the future. The pilot reported that prior to the pass, he slowed the airplane and added full flaps. He said that in this airplane configuration, following a left turn, the "flight controls in pitch became loose as if the tail stalled," and right afterward "the nose pitched down." He reported that he added power, and that his sensation was "that the plane was flying but being pushed to the ground with no feedback from the elevator." The pilot reported that as he approached the ground, he applied back pressure but the airplane impacted the ground hard. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical failures or anomalies prior, to or during the flight that would have prevented normal flight operation. It is likely that the airplane's configuration in conjunction with the reduced airspeed induced a tail stall pitching the nose down, due to the absence of tail-down force.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot, while flying in a high desert valley, he intended to perform a low pass over a remote airstrip to assess its suitability for landing in the future. The pilot reported that prior to the pass, he slowed the airplane and added full flaps. He said that in this airplane configuration, following a left turn, the "flight controls in pitch became loose as if the tail stalled," and right afterward "the nose pitched down." He reported that he added power, and that his sensation was "that the plane was flying but being pushed to the ground with no feedback from the elevator." The pilot reported that as he approached the ground, he applied back pressure but the airplane impacted the ground hard. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical failures or anomalies prior, to or during the flight that would have prevented normal flight operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N272X
- Reported as
- Rans S-7 (S)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1213601
- Built
- 2015
- Airframe hours
- 274
- Engine
- Rotax 914, 115 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Jason Sneed - Monika Bonczkova
- Registered owner
- Jason Sneed - Monika Bonczkova
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- UT99 · Fairfield, UT
- Destination
- H37 · Herlong, NV
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display, Auto-pilot, Angle of attack indicator, ADS-B, Onboard weather, Handheld GPS
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
- 43
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 25, 2015
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 1,678.5 total · 285.7 in this make and model · 1,678.5 as pilot in command · 37.5 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 120° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.22 inHg
- Observed at
- RTS, 41 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 5, 2016, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.5 MB in all.