What happened
On March 30, 2013, at approximately 11:30 PDT, a VANS RV12 aircraft, registration N572LS, was involved in an accident during landing at Wakonda Beach State Airport (R33) in Waldport, Oregon. The flight originated from Lenhardt Airpark (7S9) in Hubbard, Oregon. The pilot was performing a personal flight under 14 CFR Part 91 and was the sole occupant of the aircraft. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were visual meteorological conditions (VMC) with a visibility of 10 statute miles and winds from 080 degrees at 4 knots.
During the landing roll on the grass runway, the nose wheel contacted the surface, tucked under the aircraft, and subsequently separated from the airframe. The aircraft came to a stop on the runway, leaving a long groove in the turf. The pilot reported no injuries following the event. Post-accident inspection showed damage to the propeller, the nose landing gear assembly, and the lower forward fuselage.
The investigation
An FAA inspector examined the runway surface, noting three impact marks consistent with the nose and main landing gears hitting the ground nearly simultaneously. The center indentation featured gouging and parallel grooves extending approximately 140 feet.
An examination of the nose landing gear fork assembly by the manufacturer, Van's Aircraft Company, found no evidence of pre-impact anomalies. Additionally, data retrieved from the onboard FlightDEK-D180 electronic flight instrument system (EFIS) indicated that the aircraft was in a flat or slightly negative pitch attitude during initial touchdown. This attitude caused the nose gear to contact the runway before the main gear. The data also showed the aircraft landed at a high rate of speed and that the pilot made no attempt to flare the aircraft during the landing phase.