- Date
- January 13, 2018, 16:30 local (Jan 14, 2018, 00:30 UTC)
- Place
- Death Valley National Park, CA
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4163BHarrop Blake RV 7
- Defining event
- Landing: Aerodynamic stall/spin
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 27, 2018
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- FAA report
- 20180113000759A
- Case key
- 96605
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 adequate airspeed and his exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack during the landing flare, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.
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
The pilot reported that, during the landing flare, about 2 to 3 ft above the ground, he reduced power, and the airplane aerodynamically stalled. The airplane landed hard and then bounced, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane then came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the canopy and empennage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that, during the landing flare, about 2 to 3 ft. above the ground, he reduced power and the airplane aerodynamically stalled. The airplane landed hard, bounced, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the canopy and empennage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4163B
- Reported as
- Harrop Blake RV 7 (A)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 884163
- Built
- 2005
- Airframe hours
- 324.5
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1B6, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 10, 2017
- Departed
- O26 · Lone Pine, CA
- Destination
- L06 · Death Valley National Park, CA
- Airport
- L06 · Furnace Creek, runway 15, 3,065 × 70 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, Auto-pilot, 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
- 48
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Last flight review
- February 7, 2013
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 504 total · 325 in this make and model · 469 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 100° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.29 inHg
- Observed at
- KDRA, 42 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 1, 2018, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.9 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.