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WPR23LA230

2023-06-11 · Mimbres, New Mexico, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport NM69

Current FAA registration · N60605

Make / Model
VAN'S AIRCRAFT RV-6A
Year of manufacture
2001 · 22 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING O&VO-360 SER (180 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20010816
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A7DFFF

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s inflight loss of control while landing with wind gusts that resulted in a hard landing and subsequent nose over.

Factual narrative

Prior to landing, the pilot made a low pass from north to south to check the windsock, which indicated a crosswind from the southwest; it was stable and not flapping and favored runway 16. During the landing flare, the airplane was struck by a gust of wind and the nose rose upward at a steep angle and then slammed back onto the ground. The nose wheel landing gear bent, and as the airplane slid down the runway the bent nose landing gear dug into the ground and the airplane flipped onto its back. The pilot reported that there was no evidence of any preexisting mechanical malfunction with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Gusts-Contributed to outcome
  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Attain/maintain not possible

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2023_WPR23LA230.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (loss of control). All research papers