Skip to content

Atlas / NTSB / ERA14CA394

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ERA14CA394

2014-08-16 Readington, New Jersey, United States Airport · N51 None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N211A

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

NORTH AMERICAN SNJ-6

Year of manufacture

1958 · 56 years old at event

Engine

P&W R1340 SERIES (600 hp)

Seats / Engines

2 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19601004

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A1BD39

Registrant of record

RUSSO KEVIN JOHN

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during landing which resulted in an aircraft nose-over.

Factual narrative

While landing on a 3,442 foot long by 200 foot wide turf runway, the pilot of the tailwheel equipped airplane touched down in a 3 point attitude. He advised that his approach was normal and on speed, and the airplane touched down normally at 60 to 63 miles per hour and began to decelerate. The turf was a "bit rough" and had some areas that were bumpier than others. The airplane hit a bump at around 30-35 MPH and launched back in to the air to an estimated altitude of about 6 to 8 feet above ground level in a nose high attitude. The airplane then touched down tail first, then the main landing gear touched down. The tail then bounced back in the air and continued to climb up, forcing the plane to wheel barrel for about 50 feet then the propeller struck the ground, the engine cowling contacted the ground, and the airplane nosed over onto its back in the center of the runway. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that it had incurred substantial damage to multiple areas including the propeller, engine cowling, cockpit canopy, vertical stabilizer, rudder, and left wing. While landing on a 3,442 foot long by 200 foot wide turf runway, the pilot of the tailwheel equipped airplane touched down in a 3 point attitude. He advised that his approach was normal and on speed, and the airplane touched down normally at 60 to 63 miles per hour and began to decelerate. The turf was a "bit rough" and had some areas that were bumpier than others. The airplane hit a bump at around 30-35 MPH and launched back in to the air to an estimated altitude of about 6 to 8 feet above ground level in a nose high attitude. The airplane then touched down tail first, then the main landing gear touched down. The tail then bounced back in the air and continued to climb up, forcing the plane to wheel barrel for about 50 feet then the propeller struck the ground, the engine cowling contacted the ground, and the airplane nosed over onto its back in the center of the runway.  Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that it had incurred substantial damage to multiple areas including the propeller, engine cowling, cockpit canopy, vertical stabilizer, rudder, and left wing. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-(general)-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
  • Environmental issues-Physical environment-Runway/land/takeoff/taxi surface-(general)-Contributed to outcome

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2014_ERA14CA394.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.