The flight was the first flight of the experimental amateur-built Zenith CH750.
According to the pilot, he was landing at the airport in Xenia, Ohio, when the accident occurred.
He told investigators he was lined up with the runway center line, that his airspeed was 60 mph, and the tachometer registered 1,600 rpm, when he felt the right tire contact the runway.
He said, “In an instant the left wing came down and the left tire and axle were sheared off. The left wing contacted the runway and the plane skidded about 40 feet and came to a full stop.”
Post-accident examination of the airplane revealed that the left wing tip was bent up, the nose landing gear “U” channel was bent 90°, and the skin around the left wing strut and landing gear attachment points were buckled.
The pilot noted he used a higher landing airspeed since he had been told by other builders of that airplane that he needed to land with speed “so as not to get near the stall speed as this aircraft does have leading edge slats and this equates to a high lift wing.”
The pilot reported that the wind was calm, the altimeter setting was 30.12 inches, and the temperature was 55°F. The wind recorded at an airport eight miles north of the airport where the accident occurred was from 200° at 12 knots.
There were no reported pre-impact anomalies with the airplane.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to maintain airplane control during landing, which resulted in the right tire contacting the runway first followed by the left wing.
This December 2019 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
It’s sad that this pilot didn’t understand the Vspeeds for the CH750.!
The stall speed is 35 mph, so trying to land at 60 mph is not possible. It would float down the runway until it bled off air speed.
A much better ‘over the numbers’ speed would be 45 -50 mph.
From the description I looks like he flew the nose gear into the runway, collapsed it, then when the right main touched down, it slammed the left main down hard enough to shear off the axle….
Great point about the Vspeeds–especially with light sports. I’ve done a fair amount of instructing in LSA and the common ‘theme’ with experienced pilots is the tendency to come in too fast..and float..and float. Although we did have a gentleman in our club that came down final in a Cessna SkyCatcher, at 70 KNOTS, and, determined not to float, he forced it onto the pavemant at that speed….
He bounced so high, the plane had enough altitude to pitch over, hit nose wheel first and fold the nose gear strut back under the fuselage. Of course, there was also a catastrophic prop strike, and everything from the firewall forward was bent.
Apparently, executing a go-around never entered his mind. He was lucky to walk away physically unscathed.
It is a little disconcerting that other CH-750 builders told him to ” …come into land with speed so as not to get near the stall speed as this aircraft does have leading edge slats and this equates to a high lift wing.” Maybe he just misunderstood the concept?