Evektor-Aerotechnik A S HARMONY LSA N377YG

Summary

On 11 February 2024 at about 18:35 local time, a Evektor-Aerotechnik A S HARMONY LSA registered N377YG, operated by Sunrise Aviation Company, was involved in an accident near Santa Ana, California, United States. 2 people were on board and one was seriously injured, 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

11 February 2024 at 18:35

Classification

Accident

Location

Santa Ana, California, United States

Nearest airport

John Wayne/Orange County (SNA)

Coordinates

33.6757, -117.8682

Aircraft

Evektor-Aerotechnik A S HARMONY LSA

Registration

N377YG

Category

Airplane

Year built

2020

Engines

1

Operator

Sunrise Aviation Company

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR24LA085

1 person was seriously injured.

A loss of airplane control due to wake turbulence resulting from the instructor pilot’s decision to continue the landing into a drifting wake vortex.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The light sport airplane (LSA) was on a day, visual flight rules approach to runway 20L when the tower controller cautioned the student pilot of possible wake turbulence from an airliner that was on approach to land on parallel runway 20R just ahead of the LSA. The student pilot in the LSA acknowledged the caution and continued the approach to land. About 40 ft above ground level (agl) and about 450 ft from the runway threshold, the accident airplane entered a rapid right roll, subsequently impacting the ground. Surveillance video of the accident showed that about 49 seconds before the accident, a narrow-body airliner made an approach and landed on runway 20R. The lateral distance between runway 20R and 20L was about 390 ft. The video then showed the LSA approach the runway 20L threshold and enter an uncommanded right roll. The prevailing wind about the time of the accident was 3 knots from 240°. The wake vortex generated by the landing airliner likely drifted to the parallel runway with the southwesterly wind, where it was subsequently encountered by the accident airplane as it approached runway 20L. FAA Advisory Circular (AC) 90-23G, section 11, noted that, when landing behind a larger aircraft on a parallel runway closer than 2,500 ft apart and considering the relationship between the runway threshold locations, the relative glideslope descent paths and possible vortex drift will likely prevent wake turbulence accidents of this nature. As the AC states, “The pilot should exercise vortex visualization and avoidance procedures using the same degree of awareness as in collision avoidance.” The pilot should have, as the AC states, established a glidepath to a touchdown point that was “above and beyond the touchdown point of the larger preceding aircraft.” Landing beyond the touchdown point of the larger preceding airplane would likely have averted the light sport airplane’s encounter with wake turbulence.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.