- Date
- August 21, 2002, 19:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Chesnee, SC
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N190TBBarnes Vans RV-6
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 1, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA
- Case key
- 55533
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 misjudged the landing flare, resulting in a hard landing, loss of directional control, and damage to the airplane.
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
According to the pilot at touchdown the airplane hit the ground hard, and bounced high, and touched down a "second time." The pilot added full power to the engine and the airplane "veered to the left." The left wing struck some trees, and the airplane nosed over. The pilot was asked if the airplane had encountered any mechanical discrepancies, and he stated that it did not.
Factual narrative
On August 21, 2002, about 1930 eastern daylight time, a homebuilt Barnes Vans RV6, N190TB, registered to an individual, impacted with trees during an aborted landing at a private airstrip near Chesnee, South Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time, and no flight plan was filed. The personal flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. The airplane was substantially damaged. The private-rated pilot reported serious injuries. The flight had departed from the State Line Ultraport, Chesnee, at 1900.
According to the pilot he had landed in an easterly direction at his private grass airstrip. The airstrip was about 1,300 feet in length, and has a hump in the middle. He attempted to land before the hump. He said at touchdown the airplane "bounced" and touched down a "second time." He added full power to the engine and the airplane "veered to the left." The left wing struck some trees, and then nosed over.
An interview with the pilot by an FAA inspector revealed that he flew the approach slow, about 65 knots, with full flaps, because he wanted to land before the hump in the runway. During the flare the nose would not come up any higher, so the airplane hit the ground hard, and bounced high. The FAA inspector asked the pilot if the airplane had encountered any mechanical discrepancies and the pilot stated that it did not.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N190TB
- Reported as
- Barnes Vans RV-6
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 20282
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B3A, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Robert Kim Lawing
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 1, 2001 · 30 hours before
- Departed
- SC10 · Chesnee, SC
- Destination
- Chesnee, SC
- Airport
- NONE · Private, runway 090, 1,500 × 100 ft, grass/turf
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
- 54
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,600 total · 30 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 50° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.15 inHg
- Observed at
- KGSP, 23 nm away