Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
No Las Vegas, Nevada 89121
Sunday, January 17, 1999 13:30 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot indicated the purpose of the flight was to practice outside snap rolls. When he pressed on the left rudder pedal, it went all the way to the floor with no resistance. He reported that the airplane was in straight and level flight when he reached down to verify that the cable was detached, hoping to be able to control the airplane when he realized that the cable was slack from the rear of the airplane. He then informed the tower of the emergency. The airplane entered a right bank from which the pilot could not recover and he jumped out of the airplane and parachuted to safety. The airplane wreckage was examined. The right rudder cable was found continuous from the cockpit pedal to the rudder control horn, with the horn end of the cable secured with a nicopress fitting. The left rudder cable was attached to the cockpit pedal but was detached from the rudder horn. The left cable to horn nicopress fitting was not on the cable's horn end and the left rudder cable end exhibited long and even splaying. When the cable was stretched out, it went all the way back to the rudder horn and was nearly identical in length to the right cable. A search of the accident site failed to locate the missing nicopress fitting.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The separation of the left rudder control cable from the rudder horn due to the improper installation of a nicopress fitting that secured the cable to the control horn.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/17/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | NO LAS VEGAS |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89121 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1250 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VGT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2203 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 14 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1224 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 17 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1504 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2001 10:03AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N857JA |
| NTSB Number | LAX99LA074 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Abraham J G II/Erickson K |
| Aircraft Model | ONE DESIGN |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | ONE DESIGN |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0004 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1200 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 66 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JAMES G ABRAHAM II |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4492 S. PECOS DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAS VEGAS |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89121 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | VGT |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2001 12:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |