- Date
- August 28, 2004, 14:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Williamstown, NJ
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N524JNPettigrew, Richard RV-6A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 28, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA FSDO-17
- FAA report
- 20040828022359A
- Case key
- 59998
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 improper flare, which resulted in a hard landing.
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 was on approach to a 2,400-foot-long, 80-foot-wide, turf runway. The pilot reported that everything seemed normal until the airplane settled hard and "dropped" onto the runway. The airplane's empennage struck the ground, the nose gear collapsed, and the airplane flipped over. A pilot-rated passenger reported that the pilot started to flare "a little too high," and the airplane stalled about 10 to 12 feet above the ground. The pilot did not report any mechanical problems.
Factual narrative
On August 28, 2004, about 1400 eastern daylight time, a homebuilt RV-6A, N524JN, was substantially damaged while landing at the Southern Cross Airport, Williamstown, New Jersey. The certificated private pilot and a pilot-rated passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
The pilot reported he was on approach to runway 27, a 2,400-foot-long, 80-foot-wide, turf runway. He felt that the airplane was too high and too fast, and performed a go-around. During his second approach, everything seemed normal until the airplane settled hard and "dropped" onto the runway. The airplane's empennage struck the ground, the nose gear collapsed, and the airplane flipped over.
The passenger reported that the pilot started to flare "a little too high," and the airplane stalled about 10 to 12 feet above the ground.
The pilot reported 529 hours of total flight experience, which included about 6 hours in the same make and model as the accident airplane. He did not report any mechanical problems.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N524JN
- Reported as
- Pettigrew, Richard RV-6A
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 23598
- Airframe hours
- 687
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- William C. Labs
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · July 1, 2004 · 7 hours before
- Departed
- CGE · Cambridge, MD
- Destination
- C01 · Williamstown, NJ
- Airport
- C01 · Southern Cross, runway 27, 2,700 × 80 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
- 56
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- August 29, 2003
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 529 total · 6 in this make and model · 427 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.97 inHg
- Observed at
- PHL, 19 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.