- Date
- July 17, 2026, 11:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Covington, WA · Crest
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N987CWVans RV-7A
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 3, 2026
- 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
- 20260717011399A
- Case key
- 203416
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 improper pitch control during landing, which resulted in a bounced landing, nose landing gear collapse, and nose over.
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 during landing, the airplane began to porpoise. The nose landing gear subsequently collapsed, and the airplane veered off side of the runway and nosed over. The airplane came to rest inverted, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage, vertical stabilizer, and rudder. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N987CW
- Reported as
- Vans RV-7A
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 71185
- Built
- 2004
- Airframe hours
- 748
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 15, 2026 · 1 hours before
- Departed
- 51WA · Black Diamond, WA
- Destination
- S36 · Covington, WA
- Airport
- S36 · Crest Airfield, runway 16/34, 3,288 × 40 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot, Electronic primary flight display, Angle of attack indicator, ADS-B, Stall warning system, Onboard weather
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
- 83
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight engineer
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- BasicMed, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 3, 2024
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 32,000 total · 1,500 in this make and model · 10 in the last 90 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.06 inHg
- Observed at
- KSEA, 5 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KSEA 171753Z 20007KT 10SM FEW024 SCT030 SCT045 17/09 A3006 RMK AO2 SLP183 T01720089 10189 20144 51004 $
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 3, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.0 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.