- Date
- October 20, 2024, 16:22 local (23:22 UTC)
- Place
- Elko, NV
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N716DWSeifert Dale E Highlander
- Defining event
- Landing: 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
- 20241020017309A
- Case key
- 195359
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 direction control during a go-around, which resulted in a ground loop.
Findings · 2
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 applied right aileron and rudder control inputs to control for a left drift during his approach to the runway. As he rotated the airplane into a three-point attitude prior to touchdown he noticed the airplane had a high rate of descent. The pilot added throttle and pulled back on the flight control stick; however, this did not arrest the descent rate. He subsequently advanced the throttle to full power for a go-around, but the airplane firmly touched down on the runway surface. The pilot struggled to enter a climb, which he attributed to having 40° of extended flaps at the time. When the airplane did begin to climb the pilot noticed that it had turned to the left and his right wing was in the air. He immediately reduced engine power and moved the flight control stick to the left to avoid a collision with a group of hangars. The airplane then ground looped to the left and side loaded the right main landing gear. The right main landing gear collapsed, and the right wing impacted the ground, which resulted in substantial damage to the right aileron. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical anomalies or malfunctions that could have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N716DW
- Reported as
- Seifert Dale E Highlander
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- JAESC0043
- Built
- 2003
- Airframe hours
- 247.2
- Engine
- Rotax 912S, 100 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · April 8, 2024
- Departed
- U76 · Mountain Home, ID
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- EKO · Elko Rgnl, runway 12/30, 3,015 × 60 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, 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
- 57
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- BasicMed
- Last flight review
- July 4, 2024
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 499 total · 37 in this make and model · 439 as pilot in command · 48 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days · 10 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.19 inHg
- Observed at
- KELY, 43 nm away
- METAR
- KELY 202253Z AUTO 25009KT 10SM CLR 18/M06 A3019 RMK AO2 SLP185 T01831061 $
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 8, 2025, 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.