Pilot Debrief

LARSON ROGER H RV-7 near Casa Grande, AZ — 2017-01-01

Final reportGAA17CA108
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Date
2017-01-01
Location
Casa Grande, AZ, USA
Airport
CGZ
Aircraft
LARSON ROGER H RV-7
Registration
N5897R
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0

Probable cause

The pilot’s inadvertent application of the autopilot during short final, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and hard landing.

NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, during his second flight, following the installation of a new autopilot, he noticed on short final that the mixture was set too lean. He added that, "with a gloved hand," he pushed the mixture in to a richer setting and accidently turned on the autopilot, which was located directly above the mixture control. The autopilot was set to navigation mode, heading mode, and altitude mode from a previous flight. The pilot reported that he was "fighting the auto pilot" and that the airplane aerodynamically stalled, which resulted in a hard landing. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

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

Docket documents2

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