- Date
- June 17, 2020, 12:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Clovis, NM
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1407WVans RV 6
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- 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
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20200617006199A
- Case key
- 101456
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 improper landing flare which resulted in a hard, bounced landing, and subsequent runway excursion. Contributing to the accident was the airplane’s aft center of gravity at the time of the accident.
Findings · 4
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
During the landing, the airplane floated down the runway in an unusually nose high attitude. The pilot responded by abruptly lowering the nose of the airplane, and the airplane landed hard and bounced. He then increased and decreased the engine power setting and the airplane touched down hard again. The right main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane exited the runway to the left before it came to rest upright in a grass field. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the engine mounts and truss. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. He also reported that following the accident, he calculated the weight of the baggage and determined that the airplane's center of gravity was at the aft limit.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1407W
- Reported as
- Vans RV 6 (Undesignat)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 60382
- Built
- 2007
- Airframe hours
- 416
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · April 24, 2020 · 10 hours before
- Departed
- BAZ · New Braunfels, TX
- Destination
- CVN · Clovis, NM
- Airport
- CVN · Clovis Muni, runway 22, 7,200 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS, Electronic primary flight 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
- 82
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- BasicMed, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 9, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 27,000 total · 420 in this make and model · 22,500 as pilot in command · 8.3 in the last 90 days · 8.3 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.02 inHg
- Observed at
- KCVN
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 10, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 918 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.