Oceanside Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Oceanside, California 92045
Saturday, October 15, 2005 13:05 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane porpoised on landing and nosed over after separation of the nose wheel. The pilot said he was on final approach at 70 mph over the runway numbers. He leveled out the airplane for touchdown and believed his main landing gear were on the ground for about 100 yards; however, he was mistaken, and in fact, the airplane had not touched down. He released backpressure on the elevator control believing he was on the ground and the airplane's nose wheel touched down on the runway and the airplane began to porpoise. The pilot attempted to ride out the ensuing oscillations, but they only worsened. The nose wheel broke off and the airplane drifted to the right side of the runway where it exited the paved surface. The nose landing gear strut dug into the dirt and the airplane nosed over.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot-induced oscillations encountered on landing following the pilot's misjudged landing flare and premature release of elevator backpressure during touchdown.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/15/2005
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1305
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Oceanside
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92045
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 331304N
Event Location Longitude 1172105W
Event Location Airport Oceanside Municipal
Event Location Nearest Airport ID OKB
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 28
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 3000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 16
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 15
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 19241
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Feb 28 2006 12:35PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N221MH
NTSB Number LAX06CA019
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Harmel
Aircraft Model RV6A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 50595
Certified Max Gross Weight 1750
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Conditional
Date of Last Inspection Jul 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 27
Airframe Hours 145
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Michael B. Harmel
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Melba
Aircraft Owner State ID
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 83641
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country --
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code 67L
Departure City Mesquite
Departure State NV
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1030
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code OKB
Destination City Oceanside
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 22 2005 3:18PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 24
Runway Length 2712
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --