Eclipse EA 500 N686TM

Summary

On 14 December 2020 at about 03:00 local time, a Eclipse EA 500 registered N686TM was involved in an accident near Leadville, Colorado, 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

14 December 2020 at 03:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Leadville, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Lake County (LXV)

Coordinates

39.2242, -106.3152

Aircraft

Eclipse EA 500

Registration

N686TM

Category

Airplane

Year built

2008

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Diego → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

CEN21LA086

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to maintain proper control of the airplane, which led to an unstabilized approach and a long landing on a runway contaminated with ice and patchy packed snow resulting in a runway excursion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, while conducting a night landing on a runway contaminated with ice and patchy packed snow, the airplane overshot the touchdown zone. The pilot tried to fly the airplane onto the runway to avoid floating. The airplane touched down firm and the pilot applied moderate braking, but the airplane did not decelerate normally. The airplane went off the end of the runway and collided with several Runway End Identifier Lights (REILs) and a tree. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left and right wings. The pilot reported that he did not feel modulation in the anti-lock braking system (ABS) and felt that might have contributed to the accident. An examination of fault codes from the airplane’s diagnostic storage unit indicated no ABS malfunctions or failures. An airport employee reported that he saw the airplane unusually high on the final approach and during the landing the airplane floated or stayed in ground effect before it touched down beyond the midpoint of the runway. The airplane’s long touchdown was captured by an airport surveillance video, which is included in the report docket.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.