- Date
- October 12, 2006, 12:05 local (19:05 UTC)
- Place
- Reno, NV
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N14HMHarry D. Miller Midget Mustang 1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 31, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20061012025329A
- Case key
- 64702
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 inadequate compensation for the wind conditions and failure to maintain directional control during the landing rollout.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The airplane veered off the runway and collapsed the landing gear while landing. The pilot said he made a good wheel landing 1,200 feet down the runway. As the airplane slowed down, he had planned to exit the runway at the mid-field turn off. The tail wheel was still in the air when a strong crosswind struck the airplane and it veered off the runway. After the airplane departed the runway, the landing gear collapsed when it encountered soft sand, which caused structural damage to the fuselage and both wings. The pilot stated that the airplane and engine had no mechanical failures or malfunctions during the flight. The pilot and personnel at the scene of the accident reported that the winds were out of the east with gusts around 14 knots. The closest aviation weather reporting facility 11 miles away was reporting variable winds at 3 knots.
Factual narrative
On October 12, 2006, at 1205 Pacific daylight time, an experimental Miller Midget Mustang 1, N14HM, veered off runway 08 and collapsed the landing gear during the landing roll at Reno/Stead Airport (4SD), Reno, Nevada. The owner/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 personal flight departed Stead about 1030. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The approximate global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of the primary wreckage were 39 degrees 40.02 minutes north latitude and 119 degrees 52.20 minutes west longitude.
The pilot reported that he made a good wheel landing about 1,200 feet down the runway from the threshold of runway 08. As the airplane slowed down, he had planned to exit the runway at the mid-field turn off. The tail wheel was still in the air when a strong crosswind struck the airplane, after which it veered off of the runway. The landing gear collapsed when the airplane encountered soft sand, which caused structural damage to the fuselage and both wings.
The pilot stated that the airplane and engine had no mechanical failures or malfunctions during the flight.
The pilot and personnel at the scene of the accident reported that the winds were out of the east with gusts around 14 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N14HM
- Reported as
- Harry D. Miller Midget Mustang 1
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- HDM-599
- Airframe hours
- 779.1
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · August 1, 2006 · 2.5 hours before
- Departed
- 4SD · Reno, NV
- Airport
- 4SD · Reno/Stead, runway 08, 7,608 × 150 ft, asphalt
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
- 75
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 3,112 total · 649 in this make and model · 2 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.06 inHg
- Observed at
- 4SD, 11 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.