# NTSB WPR26LA295: Vans RV8, Great Falls, MT, August 5, 2026

- Type: NTSB accident investigation
- Classification: Accident · No injuries · Class 3 · Limited · Preliminary report
- Date: August 5, 2026, 10:34 local (16:34 UTC)
- Place: Great Falls, MT
- Coordinates: 47.482121, -111.36904
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=47.4821&lon=-111.3690&mi=10
- Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping)
- Defining event: [Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230)
- Highest injury: No injuries
- Injuries: 1 uninjured
- Status: Investigation ongoing
- Investigation class: Class 3
- NTSB office: Western Pacific Region
- Parties: FAA Helena FSDO
- NTSB case key (mKey): 203563
- NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=WPR26LA295
- NTSB preliminary report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/203563/pdf
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR26LA295

## Preliminary report

On August 5, 2026, at about 1034 mountain daylight time, a Van’s Aircraft RV-8, C-GFWR, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Great Falls, Montana. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The airplane departed Villeneuve Airport (CZVL), near Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and landed on runway 21 at Great Falls International Airport (KGTF), Great Falls, Montana. During the landing rollout, the airplane veered right. The pilot applied engine power while attempting to regain directional control, and the airplane subsequently ground looped to the right and departed the runway. The left main landing gear collapsed, and the left wing contacted the ground. The airplane came to rest in the grass adjacent to the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing, and fuselage. The pilot reported that the tailwheel assembly had been replaced about two weeks before the accident and that the accident flight was the airplane’s first flight and landing since the replacement. The airplane was retained for examination.

## Sequence of events

The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened.

- [Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230) (defining event); cases with it: [All aircraft, 4,585 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230/sequence.md)

## Aircraft

- Registration: C-GFWR (not matched to a registry record)
- Reported make and model: VANS RV8 (UNDESIGNATED SERIES)
- Category: Airplane
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Flight: Personal, Part 91
- Departed: CZVL, Edmonton, OF
- Destination: Same as departure
- Airport: GTF

## Weather

- Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day
- Wind: 8 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling: none
- Temperature: 82 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter: 30.01 inHg
- Observed at: KGTF, 1 nm away
- METAR: METAR KGTF 052153Z 31008KT 270V340 10SM CLR 28/M01 A3001 RMK AO2 SLP143 T02781011

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

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