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ERA17CA157

2017-04-15 · Kingsland, Georgia, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport N/A

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's improper landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing and subsequent nose-over.

Factual narrative

The commercial pilot, who was also the owner of the experimental light-sport airplane stated that the airplane approached the grass strip with "all systems operating correctly," he performed a side slip to lose altitude and align the airplane with the field. The airplane descended "very quickly," and at touchdown the nose landing gear dug in, collapsed, and the airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector witnessed the accident, and a video of the accident was posted on a local media website. The inspector's description and the landing depicted in the video was consistent with the pilot's description of events. The airplane landed hard in a flat attitude, the nose landing gear collapsed immediately, and the airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted. The commercial pilot, who was also the owner of the experimental, light-sport airplane, stated that the airplane approached the grass strip with "all systems operating correctly" and that he performed a side slip to lose altitude and align the airplane with the field. The airplane descended "very quickly," and at touchdown, the nose landing gear dug in and collapsed, and the airplane then nosed over and came to rest inverted. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector witnessed the accident, and a video of the accident was posted on a local media website. The inspector's description and the landing shown in the video were consistent with the pilot's description of events. The airplane landed hard in a flat attitude, the nose landing gear collapsed immediately, and the airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-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-Soft surface-Contributed to outcome

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2017_ERA17CA157.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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