- Date
- June 3, 2020, 15:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Glendive, MT
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8QTAviat A 1
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20200603011199A
- Case key
- 101384
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 failure to maintain airplane control during landing in gusting wind condition which resulted in a collision with terrain.
Findings · 2
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 the airplane was configured for landing on runway 30, and he intended to perform a three-point landing. He estimated that the wind was from 260° at 30 kts. When the airplane was about 1 ft above the runway surface, it encountered a microburst with a strong gust of wind which lifted the left wing. The pilot was unable to counteract the sudden attitude shift and the right wing drug on the ground. The pilot attempted to abort the landing as the left wing then impacted the ground, and the airplane became airborne shortly thereafter. The pilot remained in the airport traffic pattern and landed uneventfully. The left aileron was partially torn off as a result of the accident sequence. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8QT
- Reported as
- Aviat A 1 (Undesignat)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1378
- Built
- 1997
- Airframe hours
- 996
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1D, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 4, 2019 · 34 hours before
- Departed
- XWA · Williston, ND
- Destination
- GDV · Glendive, MT
- Airport
- GDV · Dawson Community, runway 30, 5,704 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, Handheld GPS
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
- 71
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- BasicMed
- Last flight review
- September 10, 2019
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 477 total · 39 in this make and model · 428 as pilot in command · 45 in the last 90 days · 16 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 14 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.88 inHg
- Observed at
- KGDV
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 9, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.0 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.