- Date
- September 17, 2025, 14:12 local (21:12 UTC)
- Place
- Hayden, ID · KCOE on airport
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N686XWeaver Harmon Rocket
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 20, 2025
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20250917013709A
- Case key
- 201029
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 loss of directional control during landing, which resulted in a runway excursion and collision with terrain.
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 stated that he was conducting a local flight at his home airport in his tailwheel equipped airplane. As he was maneuvering around the traffic pattern, he initially planned a wheel landing, where the main landing gear touch down first, followed later with the tail wheel settling down on the runway. During touchdown, he did not add sufficient power and decided to transition to a three-point landing, in which all three landing gear touch down simultaneously. The airplane bounced upon touchdown, and he briefly lost visual sight of the runway. The airplane touched back down again with the nose pointed left of the runway centerline. Despite the pilot’s attempts to regain directional control, the airplane departed the left side of the runway into a dirt area. The right main gear dug into the terrain and the airplane nosed over. During the accident sequence, the airplane sustained damage to the right wing. The pilot reported that the airplane had no pre impact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N686X
- Reported as
- Weaver Harmon Rocket
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 207
- Built
- 2003
- Airframe hours
- 415
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540, 316 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 4, 2025
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- COE · Pappy Boyington Field, runway 02/20, 5,400 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Satellite tracking device, Electronic primary flight display, Electronic multifunction display, Data recorder, Auto-pilot, 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
- 78
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- BasicMed, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 679 total · 51 in this make and model · 637 as pilot in command · 17.4 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 120° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.09 inHg
- Observed at
- KCOE
- METAR
- METAR KCOE 172110Z AUTO 12004KT 10SM CLR 29/09 A3009
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 20, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 10.9 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.