Pilot Debrief

GERALD NELSON NELSON WOODY near Hope, AR — 2016-07-18

Final reportCEN16LA271
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Date
2016-07-18
Location
Hope, AR, USA
Airport
M18
Aircraft
GERALD NELSON NELSON WOODY
Registration
N525AG
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
Serious
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Landing

Probable cause

The loss of control upon landing for reasons that could not be determined.

NTSB narrative

The private pilot was conducting touch-and-go landings in the homebuilt, tailwheel-equipped, experimental airplane. After a normal touchdown, the airplane veered to the left off the asphalt runway surface and ground looped as it departed the runway, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage and left wing. Postaccident examination revealed that the left main landing gear retaining mechanism was broken, but it was not clear if the damage occurred before or after the loss of control. The pilot, who was the builder of the airplane and had about 500 hours of flight time in the airplane, reported that he believed that the retaining mechanism could have broken upon landing and resulted in the ground loop. The winds were light and variable at the time of the accident. Because the damage to the landing gear retention mechanism could have occurred before or after the loss of control, the reason for the loss of control could not be determined.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Loss of control
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have inspected landing gear before flight to prevent failure.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Photos
  • 3 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents3

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