What happened
On 12 October 2016, a Pitts S-1S Special, registration G-BXTI, was participating in a private flight involving practice precautionary landings. The flight, which included another aircraft, intended to use an isolated sandbar near Southerleess, Dumfries, as a landing site. After the second aircraft had landed and marked a suitable area of hard sand, the pilot of G-BXTI performed an overhead circuit and a go-around before attempting an approach.
During the flare, the pilot experienced a longer-than-expected hold-off, which was attributed to a headwind of roughly 10 knots. During this phase of the landing, the aircraft drifted approximately 15 to 20 metres to the left. The pilot did not observe this lateral movement. As the aircraft touched down, it encountered a significant deceleration, causing the aircraft to tip forward onto its nose before the pilot could intervene. The incident resulted in damage to the engine, propeller, fuselage, landing gear, and tail section, though there were no injuries to the pilot.
The investigation
Investigators examined the aircraft and the site of the accident. An analysis of the tyre tracks left on the sandbar revealed that the aircraft had drifted significantly enough to miss the previously marked area of hard sand. The investigation established that the aircraft had landed in a section of much softer sand.