Cottage Grove State Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Cottage Grove, Oregon 97424
Wednesday, June 11, 1997 16:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While landing on a wet runway in his tailwheel equipped biplane, the pilot allowed the aircraft to initiate a ground loop/swerve, and his remedial action was not sufficient to execute a recovery. During the ground loop, the aircraft spun 180 degrees to the right, collapsing the main landing gear.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

failure of the pilot to maintain directional control during the landing, which resulted in an inadvertent ground swerve and gear collapse. The wet runway surface was a related factor.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/11/1997
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1600
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City COTTAGE GROVE
Event State OREGON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 97424
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport COTTAGE GROVE STATE
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 61S
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 640
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Witness
Time of the weather observation 0
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 4000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1500
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) 3
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Light
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 898
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jun 11 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1715
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:21PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1XW
NTSB Number SEA97LA135
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 Bucker Flugzeugbau
Aircraft Model 1.131 JUNGMANN
Aircraft Series Identifier 1.131 JUNG
Aircraft Serial Number 628
Certified Max Gross Weight 1680
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 May 15 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 33
Airframe Hours 1033
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name MCAUSLAND, ROBERT R.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1311 N 35TH ST
Aircraft Owner City SEATTLE
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98103
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 No
Departure Airport Code EUG
Departure City EUGENE
Departure State OR
Departure Country
Departure Time 1430
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 61S
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
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 15
Runway Length 3200
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --