Smith Douglas J SONEX N801SX

Summary

On 1 March 2017 at about 19:30 local time, a Smith Douglas J SONEX registered N801SX was involved in an accident near Mercey Hot Springs, California, 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

1 March 2017 at 19:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Mercey Hot Springs, California, United States

Nearest airport

Mercey Hot Springs (CN22)

Coordinates

36.7064, -120.8600

Aircraft

Smith Douglas J SONEX

Registration

N801SX

Category

Airplane

Year built

2008

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Petaluma → Firebaugh

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

GAA17CA171

1 person had minor injuries.

The sport pilot’s unstabilized approach with a tailwind, which resulted in touchdown short of the runway and a subsequent nose-over.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The sport pilot reported that he was landing on an airfield and overflew the runway multiple times searching for a wind sock. He watched another airplane land to the south, and he made his approach to the south also. He reported that his altitude was too high during his first approach, so he aborted the landing. He asserted that, "This should have alerted me that there was a tailwind." He flew one traffic pattern and made a second approach with the power at idle and full flaps. He established his approach, but the airplane sank quickly and touched down short of the runway and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the canopy, the vertical stabilizer, and the rudder. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. According to the Airport Facility Directory, the airfield was equipped with a wind indicator. However, no wind indicator could be located on or near the airfield by the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.