History of the Flight
On 20 June 2024, an Aeroprakt A32 Vixxen, registration G-RASP, departed Nottingham City Airport with one pilot and one passenger for a flight to Cromer Northrepps Airfield in Norfolk. The pilot, aged 69, held a Private Pilot’s Licence and had accumulated 1,711 hours of flying experience, including 32 hours on type. The surface wind was easterly at 8 kt, so the aircraft was positioned for a straight-in landing on Runway 04.
During the first approach, the aircraft passed over trees in the runway undershoot and encountered turbulence, destabilising the approach. The pilot executed a go-around and repositioned for a second approach on Runway 04. On the second approach, turbulence was again encountered, but this time the aircraft descended rapidly. The pilot applied power and rudder to correct the disturbance but was unable to prevent a heavy landing on the nosewheel. Following the landing, the pilot initiated a baulked landing go-around and found that the rudder pedals were jammed and could not be moved.
The pilot deduced that the heavy nosewheel-first landing had damaged the steering assembly, which connects the steerable nosewheel to the rudder pedals via pushrods. Concerned that any damage to the nose landing gear could lead to collapse on touchdown, and unwilling to use the aircraft’s ballistic parachute recovery system in a pre-meditated manner, the pilot decided to conduct an immediate precautionary landing. He selected a nearby corn field, aligned the aircraft with the furrows, and used full flap for the approach. Just before touchdown, he turned off the fuel and battery master switches and landed as slowly as possible.
After touchdown, the aircraft’s landing gear caught in the corn, causing the aircraft to come to rest inverted. Both occupants self-evacuated from the aircraft.
Accident Pilot’s Observations
The pilot noted that he had expected turbulence over the trees on the second approach based on the first approach, but the associated sink was new. Despite the sink, he believed increasing power would correct the approach path and decided to continue rather than initiating another go-around. Although the aircraft came to rest inverted, the pilot considered that landing slowly in the corn field achieved a more predictable and safer outcome than using the ballistic parachute or diverting to a hard runway.