Flight Design Gmbh CTSW accident near Taos, NM
On July 10, 2013, a Flight Design Gmbh CTSW (airplane) was involved in an accident near Taos, NM. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- July 10, 2013
- Place
- Taos, NM
- Aircraft
- Flight Design Gmbh CTSW · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 36.458°N, 105.658°W
- NTSB ID
- 20130711X84910
Official records · CEN13LA409
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn July 10, 2013, at 1107 mountain daylight time, N424CT, a Flight Design GmbH CTSW special light sport airplane, was substantially damaged after impacting terrain during landing at Taos Regional Airport (SKX), Taos, New Mexico. The flight instructor was killed, and the pilot sustained serious injuries. The airplane was registered to and operated by a private individual. Day visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed at the time of the accident and a flight plan had not been filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. The airplane had departed SKX at 1035 for the local flight. While in the traffic pattern, the airplane had been in continuous very light turbulence and was in a stabilized power-off approach with the engine at idle power, the flaps were set to 30 degrees, and the airspeed was 12 to 15 knots above stalling speed. The pilot reported that he and the flight instructor had both said that they expected to touch down about 1,000 feet past the runway approach threshold and neither one had noted the presence of dust devils. On short final approach the airplane suddenly encountered extreme turbulence which the pilot described as far more violent than he had ever before experienced. One witness saw the airplane on final approach when it was "bouncing around" and it seemed to be having trouble and it dropped vertically about 10 feet. He saw the airplane then suddenly go into a nose up attitude, it rolled to the right, and struck the ground mostly nose down. After impact the airplane came to rest inverted about 300 feet
Probable cause
The airplane's unexpected encounter with a dust devil, which resulted in the loss of airplane control.
More accidents in NM
- Gates Learjet 25D, Sep 5, 1993
- Piper PA-32-300, Dec 26, 1982
- Mitsubishi MU-2B-30, Jun 25, 1992
- Cessna 421C, Feb 11, 1985
- Beech 58, Mar 26, 1982
Browse: New Mexico · Flight Design Gmbh aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
