N5144X

On April 21, 1996, about 1945 central daylight time, an experimental Rans S6ES, N5144X, registered to a private owner, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91, personal flight, crashed while on approach to the Roy Ray Airport, Bayou La Batre, Alabama. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane was substantially damaged and the private pilot was not injured.

The flight struck trees short of the runway threshold, while on the final approach to runway 18. According to the pilot's statement on the NTSB Form 6120.1/2; "The north end of [runway] 18 abuts a dirt road, and a stand of trees lies on the north side of the road...when I was within a few hundred feet of the north end of 18, with roughly 75 or 100 feet of clearance over the trees, a downdraft pushed me abruptly down and ultimately down...into the tops of the very last trees between me and the airstrip." The pilot further stated, he should have used a "higher approach speed to account for gusty conditions."