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ERA11CA487

2011-09-10 · Panama City, Florida, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 75FL

N407HK has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (BELL 407, built 1996), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's selection of an unsuitable landing site, which resulted in a collision with a culvert.

Factual narrative

According to the pilot of the experimental amateur-built airplane, he entered the traffic pattern with the intention to land on the southern part of the private turf runway, to avoid the construction on the new paved runway. According to a witness, the pilot executed a normal landing. During the landing rollout, the right main landing gear impacted a culvert. The airplane veered to the right and came to rest inverted, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage, wings, and vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported there were no preexisting mechanical anomalies with the airplane. According to the pilot, he entered the traffic pattern with the intention of landing on the southern part of the private turf runway in order to avoid construction on the new paved runway. According to a witness, the pilot executed a normal landing. During the landing roll, the right main landing gear impacted a culvert. The airplane veered to the right and came to rest inverted, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage, wings, and vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported there were no preexisting mechanical anomalies with the airplane. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot - C
  • C Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-(general)-Decision related to condition - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2011_ERA11CA487.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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