- Date
- December 18, 2022, 14:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Afton, WY
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N78HJVans RV6
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- 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
- 20221218021869A
- Case key
- 106476
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 control during landing on a contaminated runway.
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 was planning to complete a touch and go landing on the same runway he departed from 15 minutes earlier, which contained patches of snow and ice. When the airplane touched down, it encountered a patch of ice and skidded left. The plane collided with snow then nosed over and came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N78HJ
- Reported as
- Vans RV6
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 21043
- Built
- 2004
- Airframe hours
- 728
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D1A, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · January 15, 2022 · 29 hours before
- Departed
- KAFO · Afton, WY
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- AFO · Afton Municipal Airport, runway 34, 7,025 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot
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
- 79
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- BasicMed
- Last flight review
- December 18, 2021
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 1,611 total · 505 in this make and model · 1,542 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 3 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.88 inHg
- Observed at
- KAFO
- METAR
- METAR KAFO 182155Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR M16/M18 A2988
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 23, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 7.4 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.