IAD05CA128

The pilot attempted to execute a three point landing in an amateur built tailwheel equipped airplane. A gust of wind struck the airplane, it stalled, landed hard, and veered off the runway. After leaving the pavement, the airplane struck a soft sandy area, nosed over and was substantially damaged. At the time of the accident the pilot had accumulated 29.5 hours of flight time, in the make and model of airplane.

On August 27, 2005, about 1230 eastern daylight time, an amateur built Van's RV-4, N228X, was substantially damaged while landing at Biddeford Municipal Airport (B19), Biddeford, Maine. The certificated private pilot and passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight that departed Augusta State Airport (AUG), Augusta, Maine. No flight plan was filed, and the flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.

According to the pilot's written statement, he had an "uneventful" departure and flight from AUG to B19 with "mild to moderate" turbulence en route to 4,000 feet msl. However, while attempting to execute a "three point" landing and approximately 1 to 2 feet above the runway, a gust of wind hit the airplane from the right front. The airplane stalled, touched down "hard" and then departed the left side of the pavement. It then encountered soft sand and nosed over.

A postaccident inspection of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the landing gear had been bent backwards, the motor mount was broken, the firewall was bent, and the propeller and left wingtip were damaged.

During an interview conducted on September 16, 2005, the pilot stated that he had done a three point landing earlier in the day without any difficulty. Around the time that the accident occurred though, the wind had "become gusty" and two other pilots flying tailwheel airplanes told him that they also had "almost lost it."

The pilot held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single-engine land. On his pilot/operator aircraft accident report dated September 13, 2005 he reported a total flight time in make and model of 29.5 flight hours.

A weather observation taken about 25 minutes after the accident at the Sanford Regional Airport (SFM), Sanford, Maine, located approximately 12 nautical miles southwest of the accident site, recorded the winds from 150 degrees at 3 knots.