Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Indiantown, Florida 34994
Saturday, August 24, 1996 10:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight was scheduled as an aerobatic flight, but no witnesses actually saw the airplane maneuvering. Hunters reported hearing the engine 'revving up' and saw pieces of the airplane falling to the ground. Wreckage was scattered over an area about 2400' long by 400' wide. Separated pieces of the airplane included: an 8' section of the left wing, pieces of the left and right elevators, and other debris from the empennage & canopy. The top portion of the rudder assembly was found about 2400' from the main wreckage. The left aileron was found intact, and it weighed 7.15 pounds; balance checks of the left aileron showed that its residual hinge moment was between +0.138 and +0.200 foot-pounds (trailing edge heavy), exceeding the Grob specification which ranges from -0.22 (leading edge heavy) to +0.074 foot-pounds (trailing edge heavy). A review of the aircraft maintenance logs revealed the airplane had been repainted, but the flight control surfaces had not been rebalanced. Manufacturing records showed that when the left aileron was originally installed, it weighed 6.40 pounds and had a residual hinge moment of +0.071 pounds. Estimates of the residual hinge moments of the other flight control surfaces, including the rudder, disclosed that they also exceeded Grob's trailing-edge-heavy service limits. Grob's flutter analysis, based on control connection stiffness, indicated potential rudder flutter under these conditions. Oxide deposits found on several of the elevator hinge contact surfaces evidenced disbonding/delamination.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
failure of maintenance personnel to rebalance the flight controls after the airplane had been repainted, which resulted in rudder flutter and in-flight breakup of the airplane.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/24/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | INDIANTOWN |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 34994 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1030 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 350 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PBI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 19 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 225 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1248 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 24 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1400 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:16AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N234VW |
| NTSB Number | ATL96FA123 |
| 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 | Burkhart Grob |
| Aircraft Model | G-115D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | G-115D |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 820101D |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2028 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 22 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 589 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MAGPIE AVIATION INC., |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 421 SEASIDE LANE |
| Aircraft Owner City | JUNO BEACH |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33408 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | SUNQUEST AVIATION |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 421 SEASIDE LANE |
| Operator City | JUNO BEACH |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 33408 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | F45 |
| Departure City | WEST PALM BEACH |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| 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 | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| 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 | -- |