- Date
- October 25, 2024, 12:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Lancaster, CA · KWJF
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N805RVDierenfield Devin RV-6A
- 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
- 20241025016339A
- Case key
- 195408
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 a stablized approach, which resulted in a hard landing.
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 reported that he made a verbal arrangement with a flight instructor to accompany him on the flight as an instructor and correct him as necessary. During the flight, while on the base leg of the airport traffic pattern, the flight instructor repeatedly stated, “nose down”, however, the pilot believed the airplane’s altitude and airspeed were correct. Subsequently, the pilot realized that the airplane was too low, and he felt the main landing gear “hit” the runway as he increased engine power to abort the landing. The pilot then reduced engine power, the propeller struck the runway, and the airplane came to rest upright on the right side of the runway. The right wing and aileron sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures that precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N805RV
- Reported as
- Dierenfield Devin RV-6A
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 25686
- Built
- 2007
- Airframe hours
- 1,116.2
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-390, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · July 1, 2024 · 3 hours before
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- KWJF · General Wm J Fox Airfield, runway 24, 7,201 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight display, Stall warning system, ADS-B, 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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 76
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 3, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 3,049 total · 89 in this make and model · 2 in the last 90 days
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Remote, Commercial, Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 4-point
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 60° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.10 inHg
- Observed at
- KWJF
- METAR
- METAR KWJF 251856Z 06003KT 10SM CLR 24/M04 A3010 RMK AO2 SLP181 T02441044=
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 22, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.7 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.