- Date
- June 29, 2021, 11:35 local (18:35 UTC)
- Place
- Borrego Springs, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N43KCWheeler C / Wheeler K Lancair 235
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: 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
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20210629011569A
- Case key
- 103398
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 a crosswind landing which resulted in an impact 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 during landing with a right crosswind, the airplane drifted left of runway centerline. The pilot applied right bank and left rudder control input, but the airplane continued to drift left. The pilot then increased engine power for a go-around, but the left wing dropped, and the left bank increased. The pilot continued to attempt recovery, but the airplane was too low. The airplane subsequently collided with the terrain next to the runway. The left wing and rudder sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N43KC
- Reported as
- Wheeler C / Wheeler K Lancair 235
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 124
- Built
- 1992
- Airframe hours
- 860
- Engine
- Lycoming 0-290 SERIES, 140 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Infantryship USA, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Infantryship USA, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · June 12, 2021
- Departed
- KSEE · El Cajon, CA
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- L08 · Borrego Valley, runway 08/26, 5,011 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Auto-pilot, ADS-B, 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
- 48
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 1,784 total · 4 in this make and model · 1,695 as pilot in command · 89 in the last 90 days · 27 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 93 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.76 inHg
- Observed at
- L08, 0.2 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 22, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.7 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.