Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Altoona-Blair County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Altoona, Pennsylvania 16662
Saturday, June 15, 2013 13:13 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that the airplane maintained 80 mph on final approach and slowed to 70 mph at touchdown. Upon touchdown on the main landing gear, the pilot reported that a wind gust occurred, and the airplane subsequently climbed and then landed hard on the nose landing gear, which bent under. The airplane then rolled off the runway onto grass and nosed over. The pilot reported no preimpact failure or malfunction that would have precluded normal operation. Both occupants reported having their lapbelts "snug" but not as tight as they could have been. Postaccident examination revealed that the nose landing gear was displaced and that a person's head with a similar sitting height as both occupants would have been about 1 inch below a crush line between the vertical stabilizer and the engine cowling. When the airplane inverted, both occupants struck their heads and sustained neck injuries that likely resulted from proximity of their heads to the canopy and might have been exacerbated by any slack in their restraints. Although postaccident measurements of the restraints confirm the occupants' statements that they were less than tight, anthropomorphic data for both occupants was not obtained, therefore; the amount of slack in either seat restraint was not conclusively determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper recovery from an encounter with a wind gust during landing, which resulted in a hard landing on, and displacement of, the nose landing gear and a subsequent runway excursion and noseover.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/15/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1313 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Altoona |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 16662 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 401747N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0781912W |
| Event Location Airport | Altoona-Blair County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | AOO |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1503 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AOO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1503 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 330 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.09 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32783 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 29 2014 2:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N954CH |
| NTSB Number | ERA13LA288 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | HAGERTY |
| Aircraft Model | RV-7A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 71991 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1800 |
| 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 | Mar 16 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 50 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Charles J. Hagerty |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Goode |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 24556 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Charles J. Hagerty |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Goode |
| Operator State | VA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 24556 |
| 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 | W24 |
| Departure City | Lynchburg |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1150 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | AOO |
| Destination City | Altoona |
| Destination State | PA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 29 2014 2:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 03 |
| Runway Length | 5645 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |