Skip to content

ERA25LA109

2025-02-05 · Weirsdale, Florida, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 97FL

Current FAA registration · N811WJ

Make / Model
VAN'S AIRCRAFT RV7A
Year of manufacture
2007 · 18 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING 0-360-A1D (180 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20071212
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S AB0F10

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

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

Factual narrative

The pilot was landing the experimental amateur-built airplane on a turf runway, and had traveled about 1/3 the length of the runway when the airplane “lost energy” about 5 feet above ground level. The airplane then bounced as it crested a small hill before it landed “hard” on the nose landing gear. The nose landing gear subsequently dug into the soft, sandy soil and the airplane nosed over. The pilot was seriously injured and the airplane sustained substantial damage to the engine mounts, empennage, and fuselage during the accident sequence. Postaccident examination of the airplane’s flight controls revealed no evidence of any preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Incorrect use/operation
  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2025_ERA25LA109.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.