Zodiac 601XL, N52EB: Incident occurred September 08, 2014 at Okmulgee Regional Airport (KOKM), Oklahoma

Pilot Rick Beckman and his wife were taking a joy flight from Kansas City to the Gulf on Monday in their Zodiac experimental airplane.  They were planning to land at the Okmulgee Regional Airport (ORA) to refuel, according to Gary Utley Maintenance Foreman and Airport Manager.  Little did Beckman know that his quick stop at ORA would cause he and his wife a little longer stay than intended.

Beckman was making his approach to land and said he felt like he was right above the runway when he realized he had ballooned and was 20 feet high. After his minor miscalculation he lowered the plane's nose to come back in, but apparently lost airspeed and dropped a little bit taking a hard landing nose first. This caused the nose gear to fold up and shattered the prop.

The mishap was likely nothing to do with the aircraft. The Zodiac's are kitbuilt and lighter and less expensive than most FAA-certificated aircraft. It is considered a homebuilt or kit aircraft.

- Source:   http://www.okmulgeenews.net