- Date
- October 8, 1989, 11:23 local (18:23 UTC)
- Place
- Sierra Vista, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N101ERoger Nelson Aeronica/T
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 25, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19891008039209A
- Case key
- 26541
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 inaccurate placement of the aircraft wheels into depressions in a platform mounted on a moving pickup truck during an airshow performance.
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 flight was part of an airshow routine during which the pilot lands the aircraft on a platform mounted on a moving pickup truck. The platform has 10 inch deep semicircular depressions where the aircraft wheels come to rest. The pilot made 3 attempts to land on the platform. On the third attempt, the wheels settled into the depressions. Witnesses saw the aircraft immediately begin to pitch forward and down in front of the platform as the right main landing gear strut failed in an aft direction. Review of the FAA accident/incident files revealed that the pilot had a similar accident in 1988 while practicing the airshow routine. No unusual characteristics were observed on the fracture face of the failed landing gear strut.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N101E
- Reported as
- Roger Nelson Aeronica/T
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1
- Airframe hours
- 91
- Engine
- Lycoming O-290, 125 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 91
- Registered owner
- Roger C. Nelson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Unknown · April 14, 1989 · 91 hours before
- Departed
- FHU · Ft Sierra Vista, AZ
- Destination
- FHU
- Airport
- FHU · Sierra Vista Municipal
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
- 39
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 1,190 total · 91 in this make and model · 1,100 as pilot in command · 30 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 80° at 1 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FHU
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.