- Date
- July 22, 2012, 11:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Jackson Hole, WY
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N780AXDornier DO 27 B5
- Defining event
- Landing: Landing gear collapse
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 5, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Denver Flight Standards Office
- FAA report
- 20120722015019A
- Case key
- 84413
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 selection of unsuitable terrain for landing, resulting in the collapse of the main landing gear.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that during a cross-country flight he was unable to maintain a sufficient climb rate to clear the mountainous terrain, and he initiated an off-airport precautionary landing to a nearby alpine meadow. When the airplane touched down, the left main landing gear collided with a large rock and collapsed. The airplane bounced and touched down a second time before sliding about 150 feet to a stop. The airplane’s fuselage and undercarriage sustained substantial damage during the accident sequence. The pilot reported no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that during a cross-country flight he was unable to maintain a sufficient climb rate to clear the mountainous terrain, and he initiated an off airport precautionary landing to a nearby alpine meadow. When the airplane touched down, the left main landing gear collided with a large rock and collapsed. The airplane bounced and touched down a second time and slid approximately 150 feet to a stop. The airplane’s fuselage and under carriage sustained substantial damage during the accident sequence. The pilot reported no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operations.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N780AX
- Reported as
- Dornier DO 27 B5
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 391
- Airframe hours
- 2,293
- Engine
- Lycoming GO-480-B1A6, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Martini Luc J.R.
- Registered owner
- Martini Luc J.R.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 3, 2012 · 10 hours before
- Departed
- 46U · Alpine, WY
- Destination
- PNA · Pinedale, WY
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
- 42
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3
- Last flight review
- May 13, 2012
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,150 total · 30 in this make and model · 1,130 as pilot in command · 60 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 4, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.5 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.