Funk Ralph VELOCITY XLRG N301EF

Summary

On 2 October 2014 at about 01:05 local time, a Funk Ralph VELOCITY XLRG registered N301EF was involved in an incident near Atlanta, Georgia, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

2 October 2014 at 01:05

Classification

Incident

Location

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Nearest airport

Cobb County-Mc Collum Field (RYY)

Coordinates

34.0131, -84.5969

Aircraft

Funk Ralph VELOCITY XLRG

Registration

N301EF

Category

Airplane

Year built

2002

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Atlanta → Atlanta

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

ERA15IA009

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during a hard landing, which resulted in the fracture of the nose landing gear.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The purpose of the flight was to perform three takeoffs and landings at night. The pilot stated that the first takeoff and landing was uneventful and that, at touchdown, he used aerodynamic braking to slow the airplane by keeping its nose off the runway as long as possible. He added that the second landing was faster, that more runway was used, and that the nose landing gear (NLG) touched down "harder" than during the first landing. After the NLG touched down, the airplane pulled right and developed a shimmy. The pilot subsequently lost directional control of the airplane, and the NLG collapsed. Examination of the fracture surfaces on the NLG revealed features consistent with ductile overstress fracture. The overall fracture pattern was consistent with fracture under a lateral bending load.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.