An Extra 300L and an amateur-built RV-3 collided in flight while flaring to land at St. Augustine Airport. The Extra suffered minor damage and the RV-3 was substantially damaged. No one was injured. The Extra pilot said he was on a sales demonstration flight with a prospective buyer and announced the flight inbound on the airports Unicom/CTAF, apparently without success. They heard other airplanes announcing their positions in the traffic pattern for runway 2 and made a standard entry into a left downwind at 800 feet behind a Cessna. As he flared to land, he felt a bump similar to a hard landing, then landed straight ahead and saw the RV-3 on the runway behind him. The RV-3 pilot said he overflew the airport at 1,500 feet and entered a left downwind for runway 2, reporting his position on Unicom/CTAF. While on final approach he saw a Falcon jet back-taxing on runway 2 after landing on runway 31, so he went around and took up a position behind the Cessna. He reported his position on short final. As he was touching down, he felt an impact coming from above and saw the Extra land.
Nov. 10, St. Augustine, Fla. / Extra 300L and Vans RV-3
An Extra 300L and an amateur-built RV-3 collided in flight while flaring to land at St. Augustine Airport. The Extra suffered minor damage and the RV-3 was substantially damaged. No one was injured. The Extra pilot said he was on a sales demonstration flight with a prospective buyer and announced the flight inbound on the airports Unicom/CTAF, apparently without success. They heard other airplanes announcing their positions in the traffic pattern for runway 2 and made a standard entry into a left downwind at 800 feet behind a Cessna. As he flared to land, he felt a bump similar to a hard landing, then landed straight ahead and saw the RV-3 on the runway behind him. The RV-3 pilot said he ov...
Key Takeaways:
- An Extra 300L and an RV-3 collided mid-air while flaring to land at St. Augustine Airport, resulting in substantial damage to the RV-3 but no injuries.
- Both pilots stated they announced their positions on Unicom/CTAF, indicating a potential breakdown in communication or traffic awareness leading to the collision.
- The RV-3 pilot performed a go-around and re-entered the pattern behind a Cessna, unknowingly placing him in the same final approach path as the Extra 300L, which also reported being behind a Cessna.
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