Primary finding
Probable cause
The pilot's selection of an unsuitable landing area.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
A sport pilot and a student sport pilot departed on a cross-country personal flight to the destination airport. The sport pilot was the flying pilot and the student pilot assumed navigational duties during the flight. They had been using a global positioning system receiver for the flight. When they arrived at the destination airport, the sport pilot twice overflew the runway. There had been a discussion between the pilots regarding the location of the runway. The sport pilot then established an approach to a recently plowed agricultural field located about 250 yards west of the runway and landed on that field. During the landing the nose gear dug into the soft soil and the airplane nosed over. Both wings were bent downward approximately 10 degrees, the pilot compartment frame was bent and the windscreen was broken.
Source record
Factual narrative
A sport pilot and a student sport pilot, who was the sport pilot's husband, departed on a cross country personal flight to the destination airport. The sport pilot was the flying pilot and the student pilot assumed navigational duties during the flight. They had been using a global positioning system (GPS) receiver AvMap EKP IV for the flight. The GPS navigation database had been expired but displayed the correct airport information. When they arrived at the destination airport, the sport pilot twice overflew runway 18 (2,160 feet by 150 feet, turf). There had been a discussion between the pilots regarding the location of the runway. The sport pilot then established an approach to a recently plowed agricultural field located about 250 yards west of the runway and landed on that field. During the landing the nose gear dug in to the soft soil and the airplane nosed over. The airplane came to a stop on the field within about 40 feet. Both of the airplane's wings were twisted downward approximately 10 degrees, the pilot compartment frame was bent and the windscreen was broken. Both pilots received minor injuries. The sport pilot was issued a sport pilot certificate on December 26, 2008, and accumulated a total flight time, based on logbook information, of 252.1 hours, of which 171.2 hours was instruction received. The student pilot accumulated a reported total flight time of 182.3 hours. Neither pilot had any previous failures towards an airman certificate/rating or any previous incidents/accidents.