Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Laporte Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Laporte, Texas 77571
Wednesday, January 15, 1997 15:10 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot encountered pitch control problems after completing approximately 30 minutes of aerobatics. The pilot contacted the operator on Unicom and advised them that the airplane was experiencing elevator control problems. He reported his position as 10 miles southeast of the airport and advised the traffic that he was proceeding straight in to runway 30. The operator stated that the pilot was unable to move the elevator or the elevator trim, but managed to control the airplane's pitch and altitude with power. After clearing trees near the airport, the airplane touched down short of the airport, bounced, went through the airport's perimeter fence, impacted a fire hydrant and skidded to a stop approximately 1/4 mile short of the threshold for runway 30. Examination of the wreckage by an FAA inspector and the operator revealed that a chromed adjustment buckle of the type normally utilized for the shoulder harness straps was blocking the movement of the elevator control tube at the elevator bellcrank. A review of the airplane records revealed that the shoulder harnesses were replaced by a mechanic approximately 90 flight hours prior to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's diminished ability to maintain control of the airplane due to a jammed elevator control as result of inadequate maintenance procedures by the operator's mechanic.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/15/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1510 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | LAPORTE |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77571 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | LAPORTE MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | T41 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 24 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1450 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EFD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 20 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 150 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 15 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1655 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:05PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5062P |
| NTSB Number | FTW97LA083 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bellanca |
| Aircraft Model | 8KCAB |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 8KCAB |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 568-79 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1800 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 3 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 47 |
| Airframe Hours | 927 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WILLIAM D. SPENCE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 19110 OLYMPIC CIRCLE |
| Aircraft Owner City | HUMBLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77346 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | DEBBY RIHN |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 101 AIRPORT |
| Operator City | LAPORTE |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 77571 |
| 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 | T41 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| 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 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 30 |
| Runway Length | 4171 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |