Accident Van's RV-6A N621AL,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 76377
 
This record has been locked for editing.

Date:Monday 16 August 2010
Time:11:50
Type:Silhouette image of generic RV6 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Van's RV-6A
Owner/operator:Private
Registration: N621AL
MSN: 24062
Total airframe hrs:0 hours
Engine model:Lycoming O-360-A1D
Fatalities:Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Category:Accident
Location:Nampa Municipal Airport (KMAN), ID -   United States of America
Phase: Taxi
Nature:Private
Departure airport:Nampa, ID (S67)
Destination airport:Nampa, ID (S67)
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
The pilot was performing a series of high-speed taxi test runs and planned to complete his first flight in the recently completed amateur-built experimental aircraft later in the day. During the first test run, the fully-castoring nose wheel began to shimmy, and the pilot appeared to slightly raise and lower the airplane's nose, in what was assumed by witnesses to be an attempt to eliminate the shimmy. Upon reaching the end of the runway, the pilot reversed course and made another test run in the opposite direction. During the second test run, the nose wheel began a significant shimmy, followed soon thereafter by the nose of the airplane beginning to rise. Almost immediately after the nose began to rise, the airplane, in what was most likely an unintended consequence, lifted off the runway. Soon after it became airborne, the airplane's nose lowered, in what appeared to be the pilot's attempt to get it back onto the runway surface. The nose wheel then contacted the runway, and the airplane entered into a porpoising sequence that ultimately resulted in the nose gear strut collapsing. The airplane then slid off the side of the runway, and, after encountering soft terrain, it nosed over onto its back. The reason for the occurrence of the nose wheel shimmy could not be determined. The pilot had a reported history of sinus and migraine headaches, which had previously occurred during flight, requiring the pilot to turn over the aircraft controls to a different pilot. Results of post mortem toxicology testing were consistent with the relatively recent use of two different impairing antihistamines, which are often used to treat sinus symptoms. It is possible that the pilot was impaired by his recent use of the antihistamines or by the condition for which the medication was taken, though the possible role of any such impairment in the accident sequence could not be established.
Probable Cause: The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control, which resulted in a collision with terrain during a rejected inadvertent takeoff.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: NTSB
Report number: WPR10LA407
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 11 months
Download report: Final report

Sources:

NTSB

Location

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
17-Aug-2010 23:29 slowkid Added
19-Aug-2010 00:23 Alpine Flight Updated [Damage]
21-Dec-2016 19:25 ASN Update Bot Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency]
02-Apr-2017 19:40 junior sjc Updated [Location, Source, Narrative]
26-Nov-2017 18:06 ASN Update Bot Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Other fatalities, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]

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