Walden Robert VANS AIRCRAFT RV-7A N65RW

Summary

On 13 September 2024 at about 20:30 local time, a Walden Robert VANS AIRCRAFT RV-7A registered N65RW was involved in an accident near Williamsburg, Virginia, 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

13 September 2024 at 20:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Williamsburg, Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Williamsburg/Jamestown (JGG)

Coordinates

37.0000, -76.0000

Aircraft

Walden Robert VANS AIRCRAFT RV-7A

Registration

N65RW

Category

Airplane

Year built

2012

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Peachtree → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA24LA381

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot’s decision to continue with an unstabilized approach which resulted in a hard landing and loss of directional control during a subsequent landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was attempting to land on a 60-ft-wide runway with a 10 to 15 knot left crosswind. He described that he was too high on the approach and made an aggressive right-wing low forward slip to lose altitude. While transitioning to complete the crosswind landing, the pilot misjudged his height above the runway and landed hard, damaging the nose landing gear. The airplane began to veer off the runway and the pilot aborted the landing. On the next landing, when the damaged nose landing gear touched down, the airplane veered off the runway, impacted a trench, and nosed over resulting in substantial damage to the right wing, vertical stabilizer, and rudder. Following the accident, the pilot stated that he should have gone around on the first landing attempt since he was not stabilized on the approach. He also reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.