Rainbow Sky Reach BUSHCAT N321WL

Summary

On 4 July 2016 at about 00:00 local time, a Rainbow Sky Reach BUSHCAT registered N321WL was involved in an accident near Cairo, Nebraska, United States. 2 people were 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

4 July 2016 at 00:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Cairo, Nebraska, United States

Coordinates

41.0008, -98.6156

Aircraft

Rainbow Sky Reach BUSHCAT

Registration

N321WL

Category

Airplane

Year built

2015

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Aurora → Loup City

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

GAA16CA355

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's decision to fly into deteriorating weather conditions, leading to a precautionary off airport soft field landing which resulted in a nose gear collapse and the airplane to nose over.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he took off in meteorological conditions after being weathered in for two days. He further reported that while en route to the destination he encountered deteriorating weather conditions and opted to land at a nearby field to allow the weather to pass. The pilot reported that the terrain looked "manageable and smooth enough to land on", he landed using a soft field landing technique, but during the landing roll the nose wheel dug into the grassy terrain which resulted in a nose over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot reported that there were no pre impact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. A review of the recorded data from the automated weather observation station located about 14 miles south east of the accident, revealed that, within about 10 minutes of the crash, the wind was 080 degrees true at 5 knots, visibility 5 statute miles, and overcast at 800 feet. The pilot reported that the lowest ceiling he encountered was 300 feet AGL. As a safety recommendation the pilot reported that he should not have let peer pressure allow him to change his own personal weather minimums.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.