History of the Flight
On 15 March 2025, a pilot holding a Light Aircraft Pilot Licence (LAPL) conducted an in-house checkout flight at Newcastle Aerodrome (EINC) in a TOMARK Viper SD-4 RTC, registration EI-HMD, with an instructor from the Declared Training Organisation (DTO) that owned the aircraft. The checkout consisted of three circuits, after which the aircraft landed, taxied to Taxiway A, and shut down. The instructor reported no issues. The pilot then prepared for his first solo flight in the type, planning circuit training.
At 10:37 hrs, the pilot took off from the right-hand grass strip. He completed nine touch-and-go landings. After the pilot entered the downwind leg of the tenth circuit, the instructor, monitoring via radio, advised a full-stop landing. The pilot reported selecting flaps to position II for final approach. On touchdown, he described a hard landing that caused the aircraft to bounce. The aircraft pitched forward and landed heavily on the nose landing gear, bouncing again slightly. The pilot pulled the control stick back to prevent pitching down. On the next touchdown, the propeller, under power, struck the ground. The nose landing gear fork with the nose wheel separated. The aircraft decelerated and came to rest about 75 m from initial touchdown. The pilot exited unaided and was uninjured.
Aircraft Information
The TOMARK Viper SD-4 RTC is a two-seat, side-by-side, low-wing aircraft with a fixed tricycle landing gear, powered by a Rotax 912-ULS-2 engine driving a three-bladed fixed-pitch composite propeller. It has a maximum take-off mass of 600 kg. EI-HMD was manufactured in 2023 and had 297.9 aircraft hours at the time of the accident. The Airworthiness Review Certificate was valid until 16 January 2026.
The Aircraft Flight Manual specifies normal approach speeds: flaps up 65 KIAS, flaps position II 63 KIAS, and maximum speed for flaps extraction to position II 79 KIAS. For landing, it prescribes flaps position II, airspeed decrease to 57 KIAS, and throttle idle.
Site Survey
On the day, the grass strip at EINC was divided into two parallel grass strips marked with white cones. The left-hand strip was bounded by cones along its left edge and a parallel line 18 m from that edge, which also marked the left edge of the right-hand strip. The right edge of the right-hand strip was largely unmarked. Both strips had similar surface conditions.
Accident Sequence
From pilot interviews, aircraft damage, ground scarring, and flight data, the investigation identified a likely sequence: The aircraft touched down on the right-hand grass strip about 127 m from the threshold, traveled about 3 m, then bounced for about 22 m before touching down nose first. It lifted briefly before the nose contacted the ground again and the propeller struck. Subsequently, the nose landing gear fork with the wheel separated. The aircraft slid about 75 m from initial touchdown before stopping.
Damage to Aircraft
The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the nose and forward undercarriage area. The nose landing gear fork and wheel separated; the remaining nose gear dug into the ground. The forward engine cowling had skin damage and buckling. Propeller blades were damaged from ground impact under power. Minor ground scarring and propeller strike marks were present.
Aerodrome Information
Newcastle Aerodrome (EINC) is a licensed aerodrome one nautical mile east of Newcastle Village, Co. Wicklow, at an elevation of one foot AMSL. It has one grass runway, RWY 18/36, 690 m x 18 m, with a grass strip of 750 m x 60 m. The active runway was the right-hand grass strip, with operations conducted in a northerly direction.