- Date
- July 29, 2001, 16:10 local (20:10 UTC)
- Place
- Rhinebeck, NY
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N220TPPalmer/Wilgus Fokker F1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 18, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20010729022159A
- Case key
- 52898
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 failure to maintain directional control while landing, resulting in an inadvertent ground-loop. A factor related to the accident was the crosswind conditions.
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
While landing, the airplane "ballooned" upward before touching down. The pilot added power and the airplane settled down onto the runway. As the airplane was rolling out, it suddenly ground looped to the left side of the runway. The pilot regained control of the airplane by turning to the right. During the turn, the left wing dug into the ground and the airplane nosed over, before coming to rest inverted. The winds reported at a nearby airport, about the time of the accident were, from 130 degrees at 10 knots.
Factual narrative
On July 29, 2001, about 1610 eastern daylight time, a homebuilt Fokker F-1, N220TP, was substantially damaged while landing at the Old Rhinebeck Airport, Rhinebeck, New York. The certificated commercial pilot sustained minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to the pilot, as he was landing on the south runway, a 2,200-foot long, 75-foot wide, grass runway, the airplane "ballooned" upward before touching down. The pilot added power and the airplane settled down onto the runway. As the airplane was rolling out, it suddenly ground looped to the left side of the runway. The pilot regained control of the airplane by turning to the right. During the turn, the left wing dug into the ground and the airplane nosed over, before coming to rest inverted.
The pilot added that the airplane's landing gear consisted of skids, and no brakes were installed.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration Airplane Flying Handbook, "The pilot must be alert for directional control difficulties immediately upon and after touchdown due to the ground friction on the wheels. The friction creates a pivot point on which a moment arm can act. Loss of directional control may lead to an aggravated, uncontrolled, tight turn on the ground, or a ground loop. The combination of centrifugal force acting on the center of gravity (CG) and ground friction of the main wheels resisting it during the ground loop may cause the airplane to tip or lean enough for the outside wingtip to contact the ground. This may even impose a sideward force which could collapse the landing gear."
The winds reported at a nearby airport, about the time of the accident were, from 130 degrees at 10 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N220TP
- Reported as
- Palmer/Wilgus Fokker F1
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- F1-103
- Airframe hours
- 166
- Engine
- Continental W-670-6A, 220 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Rhinebeck Aerodrome Museum
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 2, 2001 · 4 hours before
- Departed
- NY94 · Rhinebeck, NY
- Airport
- NY94 · Old Rhinebeck Airport, runway S, 2,200 × 75 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
- 40
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- March 19, 2001
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 526 total · 31 in this make and model · 400 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.13 inHg
- Observed at
- POU, 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.