N954CHVans Aircraft RV7A · 2012

On June 15, 2013, about 1313 eastern daylight time, an amateur built Hagerty RV-7A, N954CH, registered to and operated by a private individual, nosed over during landing at Altoona-Blair County Airport (AOO), Altoona, Pennsylvania. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight from Falwell Airport (W24), Lynchburg, Virginia, to AOO. The airplane sustained substantial damage and the private pilot and one passenger sustained serious injuries. The flight originated from W24 about 1150.The pilot stated that he announced his position on the common traffic advisory frequency when he was 10 miles from the destination airport and heard the pilot of an airplane announce the flight was departing runway 30. He asked the pilot of that airplane what runway the winds favored and continued his straight-in approach to runway 03. On final for the runway, with a mountain range on the right and the wind from the right, he encountered turbulence. As the flight descended closer he noticed the windsock and it showed a 7 to 10 knot wind and was extended ½ way out with some gusts.

He maintained 80 mph on final slowing to 70 mph at touchdown. On touchdown on the main landing gear a wind gust occurred and the airplane climbed, and then came down hard on the nose landing gear which bent under. The airplane rolled a good distance, riding on metal, and he thought about fire. The airplane started pulling to the left, and he reached over and pulled the mixture control and may have also turned off the electric thinking if he was off the runway and on grass there would be no sparks. The airplane went off the runway onto grass, and the nose landing gear dug in and the airplane nosed over. While hanging upside down he undid his 4-point restraint and an individual from the airport helped pull the canopy out of the way. He was able to crawl through a hole in the canopy and reached in and released his wife's 4-point restraint. She was able to get on her back, and he helped her out. By that time, the first responders arrived.

The pilot further stated that his restraint was "snug", but it could have been tighter meaning it was not as snug as it could have been, while the passenger (his wife) reported her restraint was not loose but not too tight. His sitting height is 34.5 inches and his wife's sitting height is 35 inches. He also stated there was no mechanical failure or malfunction that caused the accident.

A witness who is the pilot's brother reported the touchdown appeared smooth with no wobble or sway, but the airplane became airborne then, "came down very quickly" and veered to the left side of the runway. He reported seeing the nose-over and ran inside the terminal building where he called 911.

Inspection of the airplane following recovery by the FAA-IIC revealed the nose landing gear tire pressure was 37 psi, while the left and right main landing gear tire pressures were 47 psi each. The FAA-IIC also reported no apparent damage to the roll structure or seat restraints. The airplane was recovered for further examination.

Examination of the airplane following recovery was performed by several NTSB personnel. The inspection determined that a person with a sitting height ½ inch more than the pilot and the same as the passenger would have about 1 inch of clearance between the top of the subjects head and a line extending between the top of the vertical stabilizer to the engine cowling. The on-board GPS receiver was retained for read-out.

Read-out of the GPS receiver was performed by the NTSB Vehicle Recorder Division located in Washington, DC. The results of the read-out indicate that the entire accident flight was recorded. With respect to the final approach, at 1313:19, the airplane was about 474 feet past runway 03 threshold at 70 knots groundspeed. The successive GPS recorded data indicates that the while continuing over the runway the altitude increased slightly (agreed with pilot statement) while the groundspeed decreased to the lowest value (40 knots), then the altitude decreased and the groundspeed decreased to 11 knots with the location on the grass to the left side of the runway.

According to the current president of the designer of the airplane, the roll structure for airplanes with slider or tip-up type canopies is considered dual purpose in that it was designed to provide a support structure for the plexi-glass canopy and also to provide a degree of protection in the event of a nose-over. The president also reported that both structures were designed for the RV-6 and RV-6A airplanes in the '80's and have changed very little for the RV-7, RV-7A, RV-9 and RV-9A airplanes. The original designer did not recall doing any testing on either design, but both have proven to have very good track records in the field.

An aviation surface observation report taken at the accident airport at 1253, or approximately 20 minutes before the accident indicates in part that the wind was from 330 degrees at 8 knots; no gusts were reported.