Hoskins ZENITH N34NH

Summary

On 24 May 2011 at about 21:00 local time, a Hoskins ZENITH registered N34NH, operated by Hoskins Joseph L, was involved in an accident near Puyallup, Washington, United States. One person was on board and one 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

24 May 2011 at 21:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Puyallup, Washington, United States

Nearest airport

Pierce County Airport-Thun Fld (PLU)

Coordinates

47.1022, -122.2856

Aircraft

Hoskins ZENITH

Registration

N34NH

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Hoskins Joseph L

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Puyallup → Puyallup

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR11LA234

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed during landing, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s lack of experience in the accident airplane.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he conducted two uneventful landings on a paved runway then conducted circles above the traffic pattern to familiarize himself with the newly built airplane. During the third landing onto a grassy area parallel to the paved runway, the pilot approached the landing area between 32 and 35 mph with the flaps fully retracted. About 10 feet above the grass, the pilot felt that the airplane was a little high and fast so he reduced power and pitched the nose up to slow the airplane. The nose suddenly dropped. The nosewheel dug into the ground and the airplane nosed over, coming to a rest inverted and substantially damaging the rudder, firewall, and wing struts. The pilot’s total flight experience was approximately 7 hours in the airplane make and model, with 4 hours in the accident airplane. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operations. During a telephone conversation, a representative of the manufacturer reported that the average approach speed for the airplane is between 45 and 50 mph, with a stall speed of about 35 mph with the flaps retracted.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.