Prill RV-6 N3XS

Summary

On 17 October 2003 at about 17:00 local time, a Prill RV-6 registered N3XS was involved in an accident near Snyder, Texas, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 October 2003 at 17:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Snyder, Texas, United States

Coordinates

32.6933, -100.9503

Aircraft

Prill RV-6

Registration

N3XS

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fort Worth → Las Cruces

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW04LA013

2 people had minor injuries.

The failure of the propeller blade for undetermined reason. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The 727-hour private pilot reported that the engine developed a "severe" vibration when the airplane was at about 5,000 feet agl, approximately 15 miles east from the airport. The pilot pulled the throttle back to try to stop the vibration, then pulled the mixture, and pulled the nose up to stop the propeller. He located a pasture to land in; however, he did not see the terraces cut in the pasture that he hit when he landed. He hit the first one and went airborne again, hitting a second one ripping the nose gear back and landing on the nose of the airplane. A tip of one propeller blade was missing and that could not be found.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.