History of the Flight
The pilot, holding a Light Aircraft Pilot’s Licence with 88 hours total experience (43 on type), was conducting a private flight with one passenger. This was the pilot's third landing on grass and second landing on Runway 23 at Sywell, having landed earlier that day. Surface wind was reported from 280° at 14 kt. The pilot flew a normal approach and positioned the aircraft over the runway centreline. However, he had difficulty judging height above the runway. The aircraft landed heavily on the nose landing gear, which collapsed. The propeller struck the ground, and the aircraft slid to a halt in a tail-high attitude, resting on its lower engine cowling and left wingtip. The pilot and passenger were able to open the canopy and escape forwards over the wing.
The pilot commented that just before touchdown he was not aware of any useful ground features in his field of vision to accurately judge height. The runway (30 m wide) has edge markings consisting of 3 m x 1 m chalked slabs spaced 80 m apart, slightly recessed. He said they were almost invisible just before touchdown and the grass surface was too featureless to assist precise height judgement. The pilot noted that his successful landing earlier that day was made a few metres from the centreline, using the visual aspect of the centreline markings to ascertain height.
Airfield Information
The aerodrome authority stated that the markings on Runway 23 accord with CAA publication CAP168 and were re-chalked less than four months before the accident. A photograph taken after the aircraft was moved showed two ground marks made by the nose landing gear, with a gap between, suggesting the aircraft landed heavily on the nose gear and then bounced.
Aircraft Damage
The nature of damage was extensive. The nose landing gear collapsed, propeller struck the ground, and the aircraft came to rest on the lower engine cowling and left wingtip.
Additional Context
The AAIB noted previous accidents involving aircraft landing on Runway 23 at Sywell (G-SYEL, G-CEAM, G-CEND) all involving bounced landings, and that the aircraft should have gone around. Also, several previous accidents involving Vans RV series nose landing gear leg bending back or collapsing have been reported, many on grass runways. The aircraft G-ELVN was fitted with an 'Anti Splat kit' intended to reduce nose gear resonance and prevent the leg from tucking under.