Shannon William RV6A N32SN

Summary

On 14 January 2015 at about 22:00 local time, a Shannon William RV6A registered N32SN, operated by Norm CYR Aircraft Sales LLC, was involved in an accident near Pikeville, Kentucky, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

14 January 2015 at 22:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Pikeville, Kentucky, United States

Nearest airport

Pike County-Hatcher Field (PBX)

Coordinates

37.5619, -82.5664

Aircraft

Shannon William RV6A

Registration

N32SN

Category

Airplane

Year built

2001

Engines

1

Operator

Norm CYR Aircraft Sales LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Highgate → Springfield

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA15CA100

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed during landing, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to obtain a preflight weather briefing, and his subsequent flight into icing conditions, which resulted in the accumulation of ice on the airframe.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot had purchased the airplane the day prior, and was returning to his home airport when he elected to stop at an intermediate airport for fuel. After crossing the runway threshold, the pilot reduced engine power and entered the landing flare. He felt the airplane "balloon up slightly, then stall and drop around 15 feet" onto the runway. The airplane impacted the runway, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane subsequently ran off the side of the runway, where it came to rest inverted, resulting in substantial damage to the rudder. Photographs of the airplane taken by the airport manager following the accident depicted the presence of rime ice along the leading edges of the wings, horizontal stabilizer, and vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported that he had not obtained a weather briefing, but had conducted a cursory review of enroute weather via an online vendor prior to the flight, and was not aware of icing conditions along his intended route of flight. He also stated there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.