Martin VARIEZE N27CP

Summary

On 19 January 1998 at about 23:32 local time, a Martin VARIEZE registered N27CP was involved in an accident near Artesia, New Mexico, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 January 1998 at 23:32

Classification

Accident

Location

Artesia, New Mexico, United States

Nearest airport

Artesia Municipal (ATS)

Coordinates

32.8395, -104.4292

Aircraft

Martin VARIEZE

Registration

N27CP

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW98LA102

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's inadequate compensation for the crosswind. Factors were the prevailing crosswind and the pilot's lack of total experience in type of aircraft.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

A flight instructor was to conduct airplane checkouts for the new owner and other club members that traveled from Spain. After some dual instruction, the pilot was endorsed by the flight instructor to solo the airplane. Witnesses at the airport observed the airplane executing 4 or 5 approaches to attempt to land on runway 12. On the fifth attempt to land, the airplane touched down hard and bounced back up in the air. The nose landing gear collapsed. The pilot added full power and the airplane slid for 1,125 feet down the active runway with the brakes locked. The airplane came to a stop after impacting a taxiway marker head-on. The pilot stated that either the wind was stronger than reported or the crosswind was closer to a 90-degree crosswind. The reported winds for the landings on runway 12 at the time of the accident were reported from 160 degrees at 14 knots. The 200-hour pilot had never flown a similar type of homebuilt airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.