Pilot Debrief

RANS S-14 near Kewanee, IL — 2014-11-29

Final reportCEN15LA068
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Date
2014-11-29
Location
Kewanee, IL, USA
Airport
EZI
Aircraft
RANS S-14
Registration
UNREG
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
Serious
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Approach

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to maintain airspeed during the final approach, which resulted in a stall/mush. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to obtain training in the pusher-type airplane.

NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he had recently obtained the pusher-type airplane and that the accident flight was the first time he had flown it or any pusher-type airplane. He performed numerous taxi tests over a 3-hour period and then decided to take off and fly around the traffic pattern. On the first approach to landing, the airplane was too high, so he performed a go-around. The pilot reported that, during the next approach, as the airplane was about 100 ft above ground level and positioned to land, he reduced the engine power, and the airplane just "fell out of the sky." He reported that the engine was running normally when he reduced the power for landing. The airplane impacted the ground in a nearly flat attitude, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Loss of control
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have aborted landing earlier instead of attempting a second approach.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

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

Docket documents7

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