- Date
- August 25, 2018, 07:30 local (11:30 UTC)
- Place
- Lake Wales, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4557CAirborne Edge X Classic
- Defining event
- Landing: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 26, 2019
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20180825016069A
- Case key
- 98296
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 student pilot's improper landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing.
Findings · 2
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 solo student pilot in the weight-shift-control aircraft reported that he remained in the pattern and was performing full-stop landings. He flared the aircraft too late, and it struck the runway hard. The aircraft sustained substantial to the center-frame bar and the left wing tubes. The student reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the aircraft that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The solo student pilot in the weight-shift-control aircraft, reported that he remained in the pattern and was performing full stop landings. During landing he flared too late, and the aircraft struck the runway hard. The aircraft sustained substantial to the center-frame bar and the left wing tubes. The student reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the aircraft that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4557C
- Reported as
- Airborne Edge X Classic
- Category
- Weight-shift
- Serial number
- 582-306
- Built
- 2009
- Engine
- Rotax 582, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Unknown · May 25, 2018
- Departed
- X07 · Lake Wales, FL
- Destination
- X07 · Lake Wales, FL
- Airport
- X07 · Lake Wales Muni, runway 17, 3,860 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Airframe parachute
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
- 61
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Student
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 21 total · 21 in this make and model · 1.2 as pilot in command · 21 in the last 90 days · 3.5 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.09 inHg
- Observed at
- KBOW, 9 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 30, 2019, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.3 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.