| Crash location | 32.839722°N, 105.990555°W |
| Nearest city | Alamogordo, NM
32.899532°N, 105.960265°W 4.5 miles away |
| Tail number | N594VZ |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 15 Jun 2009 |
| Aircraft type | Airborne Windsports Pty Ltd XT-912 |
| Additional details: | None |
The sport pilot was performing a touch-and-go landing on runway 03. The pilot had checked weather conditions approximately 15 minutes prior, and the winds were from 360 degrees at 11 knots gusting to 20 knots. During this landing, the winds were reported to be from 360 degrees at approximately 8 knots. The pilot decided to angle his landing on the runway approximately 20 degrees, since the weight-shift airplane did not require a long ground run. Upon touchdown, a gust of wind pushed the airplane off the side of the runway. The pilot corrected back to the runway and attempted to takeoff. Another gust of wind lifted one side of the wing resulting in a loss of directional control. The weight-shift airplane rolled inverted before coming to rest on the runway. Substantial damage was sustained to the fabric wing, wing spars, and suspension cables.
The failure of the pilot to maintain directional control while landing with gusting winds.