Loss of control Accident Flight Design CTLSi N549CT,
ASN logo
ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 290291
 
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information. If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.

Date:Thursday 23 October 2014
Time:14:30 LT
Type:Silhouette image of generic FDCT model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Flight Design CTLSi
Owner/operator:
Registration: N549CT
MSN: F-13-03-09
Year of manufacture:2014
Engine model:Rotax 912ULSi
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Category:Accident
Location:White Bear Lake, Minnesota -   United States of America
Phase: Landing
Nature:Private
Departure airport:White Bear Lake, MN
Destination airport:White Bear Lake, MN
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
The pilot reported that he was conducting touch-and-go landings. During his second approach, he reported that the airplane flew over the runway at 60 knots, he stalled the airplane too high, and the airplane impacted the runway "very hard" and bounced high. He reported that instead of executing a go-around, he tried to regain control of the airplane and after several bounces, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and firewall.

The pilot verified that there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.

As a safety recommendation, the pilot reported that he could have executed a go-around.

The Federal Aviation Administration has published the Airplane Flying Handbook FAA-H-8083-3A (2004). This handbook discusses the roundout portion when landing and states in part:

Sometimes when the airplane appears to temporarily stop moving downward, the roundout has been made too rapidly and the airplane is flying level, too high above the runway. Continuing the roundout would further reduce the airspeed, resulting in an increase in angle of attack to the critical angle. This would result in the airplane stalling and dropping hard onto the runway. To prevent this, the pitch attitude should be held constant until the airplane decelerates enough to again start descending. Then the roundout can be continued to establish the proper landing attitude. This procedure should only be used when there is adequate airspeed. It may be necessary to add a slight amount of power to keep the airspeed from decreasing excessively and to avoid losing lift too rapidly.

It is recommended that a go-around be executed any time it appears the nose must be lowered significantly or that the landing is in any other way uncertain.

Probable Cause: The pilot's exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack during the landing, which resulted in an inadvertent aerodynamic stall, a hard landing, and a nose over.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: NTSB
Report number: CEN15CA036
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 1 year and 7 months
Download report: Final report

Sources:

NTSB CEN15CA036

Location

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
06-Oct-2022 13:18 ASN Update Bot Added

Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description

The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:

CONNECT WITH US: FSF on social media FSF Facebook FSF Twitter FSF Youtube FSF LinkedIn FSF Instagram

©2024 Flight Safety Foundation

1920 Ballenger Av, 4th Fl.
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
www.FlightSafety.org