N8709V

On July 09, 2012, a Bellanca 7KCAB (N8709V) was involved in an incident near Williston, ND. All 1 person aboard were uninjured. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of this incident to be: The pilot's failure to ensure a suitable landing surface.

In a statement provided by the pilot, he was performing a landing in a wheat field. The pilot approached the field from the west and flew a midfield downwind at 3,000 feet mean sea level (MSL) over the intended landing strip. When the pilot began to flare the airplane, the main landing gear became entangled with the tall wheat grass, which resulted in the airplane lurching forward and to the right. The right wing impacted the ground and the airplane nosed over. The airplane came to rest inverted and pointed in the opposite direction of flight. Nine days prior to the accident, the pilot had marked a 1,000 foot landing strip in the field. He stated that the wheat grass had grown considerably since then.

This incident is documented in NTSB report CEN12CA430. AviatorDB cross-references NTSB investigation data with FAA registry records to provide comprehensive safety information for aircraft N8709V.