- Date
- December 31, 2016, 17:00 local (Jan 1, 2017, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Casa Grande, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N5897RLarson Roger H RV-7
- Defining event
- Approach: Aerodynamic stall/spin
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 4, 2017
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20161231024849A
- Case key
- 94580
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 inadvertent application of the autopilot during short final, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and hard landing.
Findings · 4
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 reported that, during his second flight, following the installation of a new autopilot, he noticed on short final that the mixture was set too lean. He added that, "with a gloved hand," he pushed the mixture in to a richer setting and accidently turned on the autopilot, which was located directly above the mixture control. The autopilot was set to navigation mode, heading mode, and altitude mode from a previous flight. The pilot reported that he was "fighting the auto pilot" and that the airplane aerodynamically stalled, which resulted in a hard landing. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that during his second flight, following the installation of a new autopilot, he noticed on short final that the mixture was set too lean. He further reported that "with a gloved hand" he pushed the mixture in to a richer setting; and accidently turned on the autopilot, which was located directly above the mixture control. The autopilot was set to navigation mode, heading mode, and altitude mode from a previous flight. The pilot reported that he was "fighting the auto pilot" and the airplane aerodynamically stalled, resulting in a hard landing. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall. The pilot reported there were no pre-accident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5897R
- Reported as
- Larson Roger H RV-7 (A)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 73692
- Built
- 2015
- Airframe hours
- 53
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Unknown · June 26, 2016
- Departed
- DXX · Madison, MN
- Destination
- CGZ · Casa Grande, AZ
- Airport
- CGZ · Casa Grande Muni, runway 05, 5,200 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, Auto-pilot, Angle of attack indicator, Stall warning system, Handheld GPS, Electronic primary flight display
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
- 76
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 1, 2015
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 1,031.3 total · 54.2 in this make and model · 1,031.3 as pilot in command · 13.3 in the last 90 days · 8.5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 59 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.88 inHg
- Observed at
- KCGZ
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 6, 2017, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.4 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.