Hartz Paul RV-6A N447P

Summary

On 17 March 2022 at about 19:38 local time, a Hartz Paul RV-6A registered N447P was involved in an accident near Lake City, Florida, 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

17 March 2022 at 19:38

Classification

Accident

Location

Lake City, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Canon Creek Airpark (15FL)

Coordinates

30.1507, -82.6610

Aircraft

Hartz Paul RV-6A

Registration

N447P

Category

Airplane

Year built

2004

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA22LA164

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot’s improper landing flare, which resulted in overload bending of the nose landing gear leg and subsequent nose-over.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated he was previously aware of the nose-over issue of the various models of the aircraft, and as such was very cautious during landing. He attempted to recover after bouncing on a grass runway but on the second touchdown with aft elevator control input, the nose landing gear dug in and the airplane nosed over, which resulted in substantial damage to the rudder. He indicated that he should have done an immediate go-around as a result of the bounced landing, and not attempted to recover. According to the photographs and information provided by airplane owner/pilot, the nose gear leg was bent aft about 60° beginning about 2.25 inches from the landing gear mount. Equipment that was attached to the nose gear leg was permanently deformed. The airplane was equipped with upgraded nose gear leg and nose wheel fork that were specified by Van’s Aircraft Service Bulletin (SB) 07-11-09. Those components were designed to reduce the likelihood of fork axle-to-runway surface contact during nose gear overload conditions.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.