- Date
- February 19, 2022, 10:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Buckeye, AZ · airport environment
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N242KShelton Joseph G S-7
- Defining event
- Approach: Wrong surface or wrong airport
- 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
- 20220219002359A
- Case key
- 104697
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 exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack while on final approach to land which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and hard landing.
Findings · 3
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 of the tailwheel equipped experimental airplane reported that, he mistook a parking lot for what he thought was an ultralight/light sport runway. While on final approach he observed power lines that obstructed the approach. He pulled up to avoid the power lines; however, he did not add engine power and the airplane stalled, landed hard and veered to the right where it struck a water drum and came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings and the vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N242K
- Reported as
- Shelton Joseph G S-7
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 0101298
- Built
- 2001
- Airframe hours
- 895
- Engine
- Rotax 912ULS, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- IGM · Kingman, AZ
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- BXK · Buckeye Municipal Airport
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display, 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
- 76
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 28, 2021
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 2,000 total · 900 in this make and model · 1,937 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 23 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.16 inHg
- Observed at
- KBXK
- METAR
- METAR KBXK 191655Z AUTO 11008KT 10SM 17/M05 A3016 RMK A01=
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 1, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.6 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.