# NTSB LAX04LA195: Spirangam Velocity, N216MR, Boulder City, NV, April 25, 2004 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: April 25, 2004, 11:00 local (18:00 UTC) - Place: Boulder City, NV - Coordinates: 35.933334, -114.849998 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=35.9333&lon=-114.8500&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed, report February 28, 2006 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Parties: Federal Aviation Administration - NTSB case key (mKey): 59145 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=LAX04LA195 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/59145/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX04LA195 ## Probable cause the pilot's failure to maintain directional control of the airplane during the landing rollout. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Loss of control - on ground/water, landing - flare/touchdown - directional control - not maintained, pilot in command (cause) - ground loop/swerve - encountered, pilot in command - On ground/water encounter with terrain/water, landing - roll - terrain condition - ground - Nose over, landing ## Analysis The airplane veered off the runway after landing and nosed over. After touchdown, the airplane's nose landing gear began to shimmy with increasing magnitude. The pilot attempted to correct by applying elevator backpressure and raising the nose of the airplane. When the nose landing gear touched down on the runway again, the shimmy was worse than before. The pilot said the nose bounced back into the air and his forward visibility became impaired by the nose high attitude of the airplane. The pilot reported that he then experienced a loss of directional control. The airplane veered off the runway, nosed over, and came to rest inverted. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane. The free castering nose wheel and the landing gear strut assembly was examined by a Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness inspector, with no discrepancies noted. ## Factual narrative On April 25, 2004, about 1100 Pacific daylight time, an experimental Spirangam Velocity, N216MR, veered off the runway and nosed over while on landing roll at the Boulder City Municipal Airport, Boulder City, Nevada. The owner/builder/pilot was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The local area flight departed Boulder City about 0945. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan had not been filed. In a written report, the pilot stated that after touchdown on runway 33, the nose landing gear started to shimmy. The magnitude of the shimmy amplified as the airplane continued down the runway, and the pilot attempted to correct by applying backpressure to the stick (flight control) to reduce the "load of the nose gear." The pilot said that the nose landing gear came off the runway, and when it touched down again the "shimmy was even worse and the nose was thrown upward." The pilot's forward visibility became impaired by the nose high attitude of the airplane, and the airplane veered off the runway, nosed over, and came to rest inverted. In a telephone interview with a National Transportation Safety Board investigator, the pilot stated that a week prior to the accident the tires were changed. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector examined the nose landing gear and reported that the castering wheel rotated freely with no binding. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N216MR](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N216MR-2013-05-16), registration cancelled 2013-05-16, S/N SFG015, built 2002 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Spirangam Velocity - Registry model: [Rangan Srirangam VELOCITY](https://openairdocs.org/model/rangan-srirangam-velocity) (registry code 05612JO) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Amateur-built UNKNOWN ENG](https://openairdocs.org/engine/amateur-built-unknown-eng) (registry code 99999) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane, amateur-built - Serial number: SFG015 - Airframe hours: 181 - Engines: Lycoming IO-360-C1E6 200 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Airworthiness certificate: Special, Experimental (Special) - Last inspection: Annual, March 1, 2004, 9 hours before - Departed: 61B, Boulder City, NV - Destination: 61B, Boulder City, NV - Airport: 61B, Boulder City Municipal Airport, runway 33, 3,850 × 75 ft, asphalt ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 67; injuries: none; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: class 3, valid medical--no waivers/lim.; last flight review August 1, 2003; seat: left; flight hours: 1,000 total, 181 in this make and model ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 30° at 9 knots, gusting 14 - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 81 °F, dew point 30 °F - Altimeter: 30.12 inHg - Observed at: LAS, 16 nm away ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20040425007859A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20040425007859A), Apr 25, 2004: Amtr VELOCITY, Boulder City, NV, Substantial damage. (-23) On April 25, 2004 at 1100 pacific daylight time experimental spirangam Velocity, N216MR, veered off the runway and nosed over during landing on runway 33… From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.