N777DVStucker Virgil A AVID MAGNUM · 1998

The pilot reported that after the airplane touched down on the soft grass landing strip and rolled about 130 ft, the airplane's nose landing gear (NLG) impacted a soft ground depression and the NLG bent aft. The nose wheel dragged through the grass about 30 ft before the airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted. The pilot added that this was the first time he had landed at this airstrip and was not aware of the hazards on the rough surface.

The airplane sustained substantial damage to the rudder and wing struts.

The pilot reported no mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

As the pilot, who was landing almost directly into a headwind, neared the approach end of the runway for a full-stop landing, he noticed that the airplane was sinking at a higher rate than he wanted it to. He therefore added power in order to decrease the rate of descent. The addition of power was not sufficient to significantly reduce the sink rate, and therefore the airplane contacted the runway hard and bounced back into the air. After the airplane bounced back into the air, the pilot lost directional control, and when it touched down again it was off the side of the runway. During this second touchdown, the nose wheel hit first and collapsed. Immediately thereafter, one of the wings impacted the terrain resulting in substantial damage to its structure. According to the pilot, there were no anomalies associated with the airplane's flight control system.