- Date
- November 13, 2020, 13:15 local (20:15 UTC)
- Place
- Benson, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2764NAir Creation Buggy
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- 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
- FAA report
- 20201113017309A
- Case key
- 102285
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 non-rated pilot’s unstable approach and failure to maintain aircraft control, which resulted in a hard landing and 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 non-rated pilot reported that he was landing the weight control shift aircraft. While on a final approach, about 40 ft above the ground, he increased the engine power to arrest an excessive descent rate. The rapid descent continued, and the front tire struck the edge of the runway. As a result, the front wheel assembly “broke” and got jammed on the throttle cable, and with its weight on the cable, set the throttle setting to full. The aircraft tookoff and became airborne. The pilot safely maneuvered the aircraft at full throttle around the traffic pattern and initiated a power off landing north of the runway in the dirt field. Shortly after touchdown, the aircraft “somersaulted” once before coming to a stop. Both wings were substantially damaged. The non-rated pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2764N
- Reported as
- Air Creation Buggy
- Category
- Weight-shift
- Serial number
- T0126
- Built
- 2001
- Airframe hours
- 345
- Engine
- Rotax 582, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental light sport (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · August 8, 2020
- Airport
- E95 · Benson Municipal, runway 28, 4,002 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Unknown
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
- 61
- Injuries
- None
- Flight hours
- 36 total · 6 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
- Observed at
- KFHU, 25 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 20, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 502 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.