# NTSB NYC08CA048: Vans RV-8, N103JT, Latrobe, PA, November 28, 2007 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Serious injuries · Data collection · Final report - Date: November 28, 2007, 14:33 local (19:33 UTC) - Place: Latrobe, PA - Coordinates: 40.275833, -79.404724 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=40.2758&lon=-79.4047&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: Serious injuries - Injuries: 1 serious - Status: Completed, report March 31, 2008 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Parties: Allegheny County - NTSB case key (mKey): 67176 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=NYC08CA048 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/67176/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/NYC08CA048 ## Probable cause The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Loss of control - in flight, landing - flare/touchdown - directional control - not maintained, pilot in command (cause) - In flight collision with terrain/water, landing - aborted ## Analysis On his third landing of the day, the pilot of an amateur built Vans RV-8 touched down, in a tail low attitude, near the displaced runway threshold. The airplane began to veer left and right, so the pilot applied power and climbed to an altitude of 30 to 50 feet. The airplane then rolled and turned left before it overflew the left edge of the runway and parallel taxiway, while continuing to turn past a heading perpendicular to the runway centerline. The airplane continued the left turn, in an approximate 30-degree bank, and began to descend toward a low wetland adjacent to the runway. The aircraft struck the ground left wingtip first, and the left wing and left main gear separated from the airframe. The airplane then cartwheeled counterclockwise coming to rest upright on the right main landing gear and forward fuselage. This was the pilot's second incident in an RV-8. Approximately one year prior to the accident, in a different RV-8, the pilot also experienced a loss of control while practicing landings, during which the airplane veered off the left side of the runway and struck a taxiway light. ## Factual narrative On his third landing of the day, the pilot of an amateur built Vans RV-8 touched down, in a tail low attitude, near the displaced runway threshold. The airplane began to veer left and right, so the pilot applied power and climbed to an altitude of 30 to 50 feet. The airplane then rolled and turned left before it overflew the left edge of the runway and parallel taxiway, while continuing to turn past a heading perpendicular to the runway centerline. The airplane continued the left turn, in an approximate 30-degree bank, and began to descend toward a low wetland adjacent to the runway. The aircraft struck the ground left wingtip first, and the left wing and left main gear separated from the airframe. The airplane then cartwheeled counterclockwise coming to rest upright on the right main landing gear and forward fuselage. Review of Federal Aviation Administration records revealed that the accident flight was the pilot's second incident in an RV-8. Approximately one year prior to the accident, in a different RV-8, the pilot also experienced a loss of control while practicing landings, during which the airplane veered off the left side of the runway and struck a taxiway light. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N103JT](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N103JT-2012-04-11), registration cancelled 2012-04-11, S/N 80580, built 2007 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Vans Aircraft RV-8 - Registry model: [Tobin James M VANS RV-8](https://openairdocs.org/model/tobin-james-m-vans-rv-8) (registry code 056233P) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Lycoming IO-360-A1A](https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-io-360-a1a) (registry code 41818, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane, amateur-built - Serial number: 80580 - Engines: Lycoming O-320 160 hp reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Airworthiness certificate: Special, Experimental (Special) - Departed: LBE, Latrobe, PA - Destination: LBE - Airport: LBE, Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, runway 23, 8,500 × 100 ft, asphalt ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 60; injuries: serious; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: class 3, with waivers/limitations; seat: front; flight hours: 475 total, 3 in this make and model ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 10° at 4 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 45 °F, dew point 19 °F - Altimeter: 30.32 inHg - Observed at: LBE ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20071128827989A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20071128827989A), Nov 28, 2007: Amtr VANSRV8, Latrobe, PA, Destroyed. (-23) The pilot [privacy data omitted] was cleared for the option for a solo touch and go approach to runway 23 at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport (lbe) in a… From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.