Wilbarger County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Vernon, Texas 76384
Sunday, September 16, 2007 14:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The 603-hour private pilot lost control of the homebuilt airplane while landing with a tailwind. The pilot, who was also the builder of the airplane, stated on the NTSB form 6120.1 (Pilot/Operator Accident/Incident Report) that during her first attempt to land, she "was getting strong wind gusts and about the time she flared the airplane, a strong wind gust shot me 50 feet in the air." The pilot then applied power and regained runway alignment and came around for a second landing attempt on Runway 02. The pilot reported that her second landing attempt resulted in a hard landing. When the nose gear contacted the ground the pilot encountered "a bad shimmy and when it settled I knew I did not have control of the airplane." Following the loss of control, the airplane was reported to have turned sharply to the right, nosed over and came to rest in the inverted position. The wind at the time of the mishap was reported from 200 degrees at 12 knots, gusting to 19 knots. The pilot added that she had noted during Unicom radio traffic that the landing traffic was to Runway 20 and she mistakenly landed to Runway 02.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane while landing. A contributing factor was the prevailing tailwind.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/16/2007
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Vernon
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 76384
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 341354N
Event Location Longitude 0991644W
Event Location Airport Wilbarger County Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID F05
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 1265
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KFDR
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 --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 33
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 200
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 12
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 19
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.05
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 22682
NTSB Notification Source Regional Operations Center FTW
NTSB Notification Date Sep 16 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 20 2007 6:59AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Fort Worth, Texas

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N729CM
NTSB Number DFW07CA200
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name VANS
Aircraft Model RV-7A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 71712
Certified Max Gross Weight 1834
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 --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 225
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Carol Craig Morris
Aircraft Owner Street Address 729 Aviator Dr
Aircraft Owner City Fort Worth
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 76179
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 729 Aviator Dr
Operator City Fort Worth
Operator State TX
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 76179
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 No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code KBJC
Departure City Denver
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1015
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code T67
Destination City Fort Worth
Destination State TX
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 26 2007 4:28PM
User who most recently changed record CASH
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 02
Runway Length 5099
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --