- Date
- October 13, 2023, 15:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Fairfield, UT
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N866SAZlin Aviation Sro Savage
- 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
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20231013020899A
- Case key
- 193341
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 the landing, which resulted in a ground loop.
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 of the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that he was distracted by a sick passenger during the landing. The pilot subsequently lost control of the airplane on the landing rollout, and the airplane ground looped. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing and aileron. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N866SA
- Reported as
- Zlin Aviation Sro Savage
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 0130
- Built
- 2007
- Engine
- Rotax 912ULS, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Special light-sport (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 24, 2022 · 855 hours before
- Departed
- KBMC · Brigham City, UT
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- UT9 · West Desert Airpark, runway 17, 2,600 × 24 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, ADS-B, Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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
- 29
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Private, Commercial, Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 10, 2022
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 3,089 total · 120 in this make and model · 1,551 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 1.3 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.13 inHg
- Icing
- Unknown
- Turbulence
- Unknown
- Observed at
- KPVU, 17 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KPVU 132056Z 28005KT 10SM CLR 14/04 A3013 RMK AO2 SLP187 T01390039 58015
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 6, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.7 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.