- Date
- March 27, 2026, 09:22 local (16:22 UTC)
- Place
- Lincoln, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N11446Paul D Cannon Kitfox Light Squared
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 11, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20260327002089A
- Case key
- 202717
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 properly flare the airplane during landing, which resulted in a hard landing and separation of the main landing gear. Contributing to the accident was the improper installation and over torquing of the landing gear attachment hardware, which reduced the load-carrying capacity of the landing gear clamping brackets.
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/owner of the amateur-built airplane reported that, while performing touch-and-go landings, he failed to properly flare the airplane resulting in a hard landing. The landing loads exceeded the strength of the main landing gear attachment, which resulted in a separation of the main landing gear. The airplane subsequently departed the left side of the runway and struck the visual approach slope indicator lights, resulting in substantial damage to the right wing strut. The pilot/owner’s postaccident examination revealed that the aftermarket landing gear installation had been improperly installed. The attachment bolts had been overtorqued which preloaded and overstressed the hardware, reducing the load-carrying capability. The stripped attachment bolts allowed the clamping brackets to separate under load. The hard landing exceeded the reduced capacity of the landing gear attachment, resulting in a separation of the landing gear and a subsequent runway excursion.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N11446
- Reported as
- Paul D Cannon Kitfox Light Squared
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- C0203-0277
- Built
- 2026
- Airframe hours
- 25.3
- Engine
- Rotax 912 ULS SERIES, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · March 27, 2026
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- LHM · Lincoln Regional / Karl Harder Field, runway 15, 6,001 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display, ADS-B, Electronic multifunction 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
- 67
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Sport pilot
- Last flight review
- March 17, 2026
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 122 total · 7 in this make and model · 77 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.99 inHg
- Observed at
- LHM
- METAR
- METAR KLHM 271615Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 13/10 A2999 RMK AO1
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 10, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.6 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.