- Date
- March 9, 2017, 11:00 local (16:00 UTC)
- Place
- Robbinsville, NJ
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N237PMPedersen Bjarne Martin Sportsman GS-2
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 22, 2017
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20170309003309A
- Case key
- 94856
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 in gusting wind conditions.
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 of a tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that, during the landing roll, the airplane veered off the runway to the left. He added that he applied rudder inputs and full power to arrest the veer but was unsuccessful. The airplane continued to veer off the runway and impacted a tree. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. An automated weather observation located about 10 miles northwest of the airport reported that, about 7 minutes before the accident, the wind was from 280° at 14 knots, gusting to 21 knots. The airplane was landing on runway 29.
Factual narrative
The pilot of a tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that, during the landing roll, the airplane veered off the runway to the left. He added that he applied rudder inputs and full power to arrest the veer, but was unsuccessful. The airplane continued to veer off the runway and impacted a tree. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. A review of recorded data from the automated weather observation located about 10 miles north west of the accident airport reported that, about 7 minutes before the accident, the wind was from 280° at 14 knots, gusting to 21 knots. The airplane was landing runway 29.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N237PM
- Reported as
- Pedersen Bjarne Martin Sportsman GS-2 (FT)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 7423
- Built
- 2015
- Engine
- Continental CD155, 155 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- MTP · Montauk, NY
- Destination
- N87 · Robbinsville, NJ
- Airport
- N87 · Trenton-Robbinsville, runway 29, 4,275 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Data recorder, Auto-pilot, Angle of attack indicator, Electronic multifunction display, Stall warning system, Onboard weather
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
- 79
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 9, 2017
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 1,365 total · 47.7 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 14 knots, gusting 21
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.01 inHg
- Observed at
- KTTN, 10 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 23, 2017, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.8 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.