- Date
- May 30, 2023, 14:05 local (20:05 UTC)
- Place
- Santa Fe, NM
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N69PVPipistrel Doo Ajdovscina Virus SW
- 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
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20230530014209A
- Case key
- 192303
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
An encounter with a downdraft during landing that resulted in a hard landing and the pilot’s loss of control.
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
The pilot reported that he experienced severe turbulence within about 10 miles of the airport as he was approaching to land. He further reported that during the landing, the airplane encountered a downdraft and bounced on touchdown. The airplane exited the runway to the left onto an adjacent grass area and nosed over, resulting in substantial damage to the right wing. The pilot reported there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation during landing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N69PV
- Reported as
- Pipistrel Doo Ajdovscina Virus SW
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 709 SWN 100
- Airframe hours
- 210
- Engine
- Rotax 912ULS, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Condition · May 9, 2023 · 5 hours before
- Departed
- 0E0 · Moriarty, NM
- Destination
- KSAF · Sante Fe, NM
- Airport
- SAF · Santa Fe Municipal Airport, runway 33, 8,366 × 150 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot, Airframe parachute, ADS-B
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
- Minor
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Last flight review
- July 15, 2022
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 5,600 total · 330 in this make and model · 26 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.08 inHg
- Observed at
- KSAF
- METAR
- KSAF 301953Z COR 24009KT 10SM CLR 26/M06 A3008 RMK AO2 SLP089 T02561056
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 16, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 23.4 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.