- Date
- June 11, 2023, 17:10 local (23:10 UTC)
- Place
- Mimbres, NM · private airpark
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N60605Vans RV6A
- 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
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20230611007009A
- Case key
- 192404
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 inflight loss of control while landing with wind gusts that resulted in a hard landing and subsequent nose over.
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
Prior to landing, the pilot made a low pass from north to south to check the windsock, which indicated a crosswind from the southwest; it was stable and not flapping and favored runway 16. During the landing flare, the airplane was struck by a gust of wind and the nose rose upward at a steep angle and then slammed back onto the ground. The nose wheel landing gear bent, and as the airplane slid down the runway the bent nose landing gear dug into the ground and the airplane flipped onto its back. The pilot reported that there was no evidence of any preexisting mechanical malfunction with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N60605
- Reported as
- Vans RV6A
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 25379
- Built
- 2001
- Airframe hours
- 1,697
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · October 30, 2022 · 10 hours before
- Departed
- 0E0 · Moriarty, NM
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- NM69 · Casas Adobes Airpark, runway 16, 3,800 × 30 ft, dirt
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, Auto-pilot, ADS-B, Electronic primary flight display
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
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 25, 2021
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 3,834 total · 1,697 in this make and model · 3,780 as pilot in command · 4 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 13 knots, gusting 23
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 31 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.66 inHg
- Observed at
- KSVC, 16 nm away
- METAR
- KSVC 112315Z AUTO 21016G26KT 10SM CLR 30/M01 A2999 RMK AO2 T02961007
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 20, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 9.0 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.