Van's RV-8 N103JT

Summary

On 28 November 2007 at about 19:33 local time, a Van's RV-8 registered N103JT was involved in an accident near Latrobe, Pennsylvania, 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

28 November 2007 at 19:33

Classification

Accident

Location

Latrobe, Pennsylvania, United States

Nearest airport

Arnold Palmer Regional Airport (LBE)

Coordinates

40.2758, -79.4047

Aircraft

Van's RV-8

Registration

N103JT

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Latrobe → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC08CA048

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

On his third landing of the day, the pilot of an amateur built Vans RV-8 touched down, in a tail low attitude, near the displaced runway threshold. The airplane began to veer left and right, so the pilot applied power and climbed to an altitude of 30 to 50 feet. The airplane then rolled and turned left before it overflew the left edge of the runway and parallel taxiway, while continuing to turn past a heading perpendicular to the runway centerline. The airplane continued the left turn, in an approximate 30-degree bank, and began to descend toward a low wetland adjacent to the runway. The aircraft struck the ground left wingtip first, and the left wing and left main gear separated from the airframe. The airplane then cartwheeled counterclockwise coming to rest upright on the right main landing gear and forward fuselage. This was the pilot's second incident in an RV-8. Approximately one year prior to the accident, in a different RV-8, the pilot also experienced a loss of control while practicing landings, during which the airplane veered off the left side of the runway and struck a taxiway light.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.