- Date
- February 28, 2020, 12:45 local (20:45 UTC)
- Place
- Sonoma/Schellville, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3XCCubCrafters FX-3
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 29, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20200228002039A
- Case key
- 101052
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 inadvertent activation of the left brake during the landing roll, which resulted in a loss of directional control, a runway excursion, and collision with a ditch.
Findings · 5
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 wheel landing in the tailwheel-equipped airplane, he inadvertently applied left brake pressure, and the airplane veered off the edge of the runway into tall grass. The pilot's corrective action was ineffective, and the airplane subsequently impacted an irrigation ditch, which resulted in substantial damage to the nose and firewall. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that during a wheel landing in the tailwheel equipped airplane, he inadvertently applied left brake pressure and the airplane veered off the edge of the runway into tall grass. Corrective action was ineffective and the airplane subsequently collided with an irrigation ditch, substantially damaging the nose and firewall. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3XC
- Reported as
- CubCrafters FX-3
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- CCX-2000-0042
- Built
- 2019
- Airframe hours
- 188
- Engine
- Superior CC363i, 185 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Hangar C-403, LLC
- Registered owner
- Hangar C-403, LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · January 22, 2020
- Departed
- 0Q3 · Sonoma/Schellville, CA
- Destination
- 0Q3 · Sonoma/Schellville, CA
- Airport
- 0Q3 · Sonoma Valley, runway 25, 2,700 × 45 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, Onboard weather, Electronic primary flight display, ADS-B, Angle of attack indicator, Auto-pilot, Electronic multifunction display
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
- 63
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 29, 2019
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 3,600 total · 86 in this make and model · 3,500 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- KO69, 7 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 31, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 734 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.