Airborne Windsports XT-912 N594VZ

Summary

On 15 June 2009 at about 17:30 local time, a Airborne Windsports XT-912 registered N594VZ was involved in an accident near Alamogordo, New Mexico, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

15 June 2009 at 17:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Alamogordo, New Mexico, United States

Nearest airport

Alamogordo-White Sands Regiona (KALM)

Coordinates

32.8397, -105.9906

Aircraft

Airborne Windsports XT-912

Registration

N594VZ

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Alamogordo → Alamogordo

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN09CA362

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the pilot to maintain directional control while landing with gusting winds.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The sport pilot was performing a touch-and-go landing on Runway 03. The pilot had checked weather conditions approximately 15 minutes prior, and the winds were from 360 degrees at 11 knots gusting to 20 knots. During this landing, the winds were reported to be from 360 degrees at approximately 8 knots. The pilot decided to angle his landing on the runway approximately 20 degrees, since the weight-shift airplane did not require a long ground run. Upon touchdown, a gust of wind pushed the airplane off the side of the runway. The pilot corrected back to the runway and attempted to take off. Another gust of wind lifted one side of the wing resulting in a loss of directional control. The weight-shift airplane rolled inverted before coming to rest on the runway, causing substantial damage to the fabric wing, wing spars, and suspension cables.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.