- Date
- April 15, 2019, 15:50 local (19:50 UTC)
- Place
- Lebanon, IN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3243Kaminskas RTH Jungster 1
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 6, 2019
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20190415010809A
- Case key
- 99284
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 selection of unsuitable terrain for landing, which resulted in a nose-over.
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 in the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that, about 30 minutes into the flight, the oil pressure gauge needle entered the yellow (caution) arc. The pilot decided to make a precautionary landing at the nearest airport and to land on the grass on the right side of the asphalt runway. Before landing, he overflew the grass surface twice and then conducted a touch-and-go landing to assess the surface condition. The third approach and landing were normal, but during the landing roll, the main landing gear wheels encountered "a soft patch of muddy soil," and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the empennage. The pilot reported that the only mechanical malfunction that occurred was specific to the oil pressure gauge.
Factual narrative
The pilot in the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that about 30 minutes into the flight, the oil pressure gauge needle entered the yellow (caution) arc. The pilot made a precautionary landing at the nearest airport. However, he decided to land on the grass on the right side of the asphalt runway. Before landing, he overflew the grass surface to evaluate the surface condition, and he performed a touch-and-go to further assess the surface condition. The third approach and the landing were normal, but during the landing roll, the main landing gear wheels encountered, "a soft patch of muddy soil," and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the empennage. The pilot reported that the only mechanical malfunction that occurred, was specific to the oil pressure gauge.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3243
- Reported as
- Kaminskas RTH Jungster 1 (I)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 3
- Built
- 1972
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235, 115 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- BMG · Bloomington, IN
- Destination
- 3C1 · Elkhart, IN
- Airport
- 6I4 · Boone County, runway 36, 3,600 × 30 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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
- 55
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial, Flight engineer, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Waiver time limited special
- Last flight review
- June 1, 2018
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 35,000 total · 2 in this make and model · 30,000 as pilot in command · 250 in the last 90 days · 80 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 5 knots, gusting 10
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Temperature
- 55 °F
- Observed at
- KTYQ, 9 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 15, 2019, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.1 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.