Van’s RV-6A, N5976B, incident occurred on July 4 or 5 at Blue Ridge Regional Airport (MTV/KMTV), Martinsville, Virginia

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this writing will be corrected when/if the NTSB preliminary report is released.

https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=N5976B

- History of Flight:
On July 4 (or 5), 2026, at about 0326 local time, a privately-registered Van’s RV-6A, N5976B, sustained minor damage when it was involved in an incident at Blue Ridge Regional Airport (MTV/KMTV), Martinsville, Virginia. The pilot was not injured.

The FAA reported: "Aircraft experienced engine issues while departing, attempted to turn around and blew the brake lines rolling into a ditch." 

The FAA reported the time of the event as July 4 07:26 Zulu. However, flight-tracking data shows that the airplane arrived at KMTV on July 4 at about 13:00 LT. It is possible that the FAA meant the time to be 17:26 Zulu, which places the time of the incident around 30 minutes after arrival at KMTV.

- Weather:

For July 4, 1326:

METAR KMTV 041715Z AUTO 13003KT 10SM CLR 36/16 A3004 RMK AO2 T03590160

METAR KMTV 041735Z AUTO 18003KT 10SM CLR 37/16 A3003 RMK AO2 T03660156

For July 5, 0326:

METAR KMTV 050715Z AUTO 00000KT 3SM BR CLR 20/19 A3000 RMK AO2 T02020188

METAR KMTV 050735Z AUTO 00000KT 3SM BR CLR 20/19 A3000 RMK AO2 T02010187