- Date
- April 2, 2014, 17:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Roundup, MT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3552JRobert A Miller Murphy Rebel Elite
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 2, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20140402003289A
- Case key
- 89007
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 loss of directional control while landing.
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-owner was practicing takeoffs and landings in his amateur built experimental airplane. Earlier in the day, he had accomplished several successful landings, and then took a short break. After the break, he flew the airplane again, remained in the airport traffic pattern, and completed an uneventful takeoff and full stop landing. He took off again, made a circuit of the traffic pattern, and set up for a second landing. The pilot described the approach as "perfect," and noted that he was "over the threshold with just the right altitude and airspeed." The touchdown was normal, but during the latter portion of the landing rollout the airplane began to veer to the left. The pilot applied right rudder; the airplane turned right, and exited the right side of the paved runway. About 15 feet off the runway, the left landing gear entered a depression associated with a drainage culvert. The left landing gear was displaced aft and up, and the left wing and nose of the airplane struck the ground. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and left wing. The pilot did not cite any mechanical problems with the airplane. In his written report on the accident, the pilot noted that pilots must be "really quick" on the rudder and "can't relax until the airplane is back in the hangar" when flying a taildragger.
Factual narrative
The pilot-owner was practicing takeoffs and landings in his amateur built experimental airplane. Earlier in the day, he had accomplished several successful landings, and then took a short break. After the break, he flew the airplane again, remained in the airport traffic pattern, and completed an uneventful takeoff and full stop landing. He took off again, made a circuit of the traffic pattern, and set up for a second landing. The pilot described the approach as "perfect," and noted that he was "over the threshold with just the right altitude and airspeed." The touchdown was normal, but during the latter portion of the landing rollout the airplane began to veer to the left. The pilot applied right rudder; the airplane turned right, and exited the right side of the paved runway. About 15 feet off the runway, the left landing gear entered a depression associated with a drainage culvert. The left landing gear was displaced aft and up, and the left wing and nose of the airplane struck the ground. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and left wing. The pilot did not cite any mechanical problems with the airplane. In his written report on the accident, the pilot noted that pilots must be "really quick" on the rudder and "can't relax until the airplane is back in the hangar" when flying a taildragger.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3552J
- Reported as
- Robert A Miller Murphy Rebel Elite (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 653E
- Built
- 2012
- Airframe hours
- 20
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Miller Robert A
- Registered owner
- Miller Robert A
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · November 15, 2013 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- KRPX · Roundup, MT
- Destination
- KRPX · Roundup, MT
- Airport
- KRPX · Roundup Airport, runway 07, 5,100 × 75 ft, asphalt
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
- 83
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Private, Recreational, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 5, 2012
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 534 total · 20 in this make and model · 534 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Icing
- Unknown
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 13, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 466 KB 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.