# NTSB SEA06CA097: Rupp Rutan Defiant, N726RD, Coeur d'Alene, ID, May 5, 2006 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Data collection · Final report - Date: May 5, 2006, 11:00 local (18:00 UTC) - Place: Coeur d'Alene, ID - Coordinates: 47.774166, -116.819725 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=47.7742&lon=-116.8197&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed, report August 29, 2006 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Parties: FAA FSDO - NTSB case key (mKey): 63696 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=SEA06CA097 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/63696/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/SEA06CA097 ## Probable cause The pilot's failure to put the nose wheel landing gear down for landing. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Wheels up landing, landing - flare/touchdown - wheels up landing - inadvertent, pilot in command (cause) ## Analysis The pilot said that he had recently purchased the airplane and had very little flight time in it. He said that he was airborne to practice landings. On the first landing, the airplane landed on its rudder, which is mounted beneath the nose adjacent to the nose wheel landing gear. He said that he thought he put the nose wheel landing gear down [in this airplane, only the nose wheel landing gear retracts], but the airplane's maintenance records indicated that this has happened on two previous occasions during the airplane's 18 years of existence. The pilot said that he is in the process of having the landing-gear mechanism inspected. ## Factual narrative On May 5, 2006, at approximately 1100 Pacific daylight time, a Rupp, Rutan Defiant, N726RD, was substantially damaged during a landing attempt at Coeur d'Alene Air Terminal, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. The airline transport pilot, the sole occupant in the aircraft, was not injured. The pilot/owner was operating the airplane under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal, local flight which had originated approximately 15 minutes before the accident. A flight plan had not been filed. The pilot said that he had recently purchased the airplane and had very little flight time in it. He said that he was airborne to practice landings. On the first landing, the airplane landed on its rudder, which is mounted beneath the nose adjacent to the nose wheel landing gear. He said that he thought he put the nose wheel landing gear down [in this airplane, only the nose wheel landing gear retracts]. The airplane's maintenance records indicated that the airplane has landed on its rudder on two previous occasions during the airplane's 18 years of existence. The pilot said that he is in the process of having the landing-gear mechanism inspected. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N726RD](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N726RD-2018-04-18), registration cancelled 2018-04-18, S/N 26, built 1988 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Rupp Rutan Defiant - Registry model: [Rupp Roger J RUTAN DEFIANT](https://openairdocs.org/model/rupp-roger-j-rutan-defiant) (registry code 05690C5) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Lycoming 0-320 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-0-320-series) (registry code 41508, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane, amateur-built - Serial number: 26 - Airframe hours: 650 - Engines: Lycoming O-320 160 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Registered owner: Harry P. Bolton - Airworthiness certificate: Special, Experimental (Special) - Last inspection: Condition, March 1, 2006, 20 hours before - Departed: COE, Coeur d'Alene, ID - Destination: COE - Airport: COE, Coeur d'Alene Air Terminal, runway 01, 5,400 × 75 ft, asphalt ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 48; injuries: none; airline transport, flight engineer; airplane ratings: multi-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 1, without waivers/limitations; last flight review November 1, 2005; seat: left; flight hours: 6,000 total, 21 in this make and model, 1,328 as pilot in command, 25 in the last 90 days, 8 in the last 30 days, 1 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 0° at 0 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 61 °F, dew point 50 °F - Altimeter: 30.02 inHg - Observed at: COE ## 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 20060505008099A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20060505008099A), May 5, 2006: Amtr RUTANDEFIANT, Coeur D Alene, ID, Minor damage. (-23) Pilot failed to lower the nose gear prior to landing causing the aircraft to skid on the lower nose fuselage over 2,000 feet down the runway. This… 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.