Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Eagle Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Blair, Nebraska 68008
Tuesady, November 25, 1997 15:00 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said that during the initial takeoff, as the tail wheel came off the ground, the airplane began to 'fishtail.' When the pilot made rudder corrections, the airplane's directional control got worse. The airplane became airborne entering an uncontrolled left turn. The pilot said that he did not have 'positive response' when he turned back parallel to the runway. The pilot reduced power to land. The nose of the airplane tracked right away from the runway heading. The pilot tried to turn back to the left, but the airplane's controls would not respond. The pilot reduced the power to idle and impacted the ground in a left nose down slip approximately 20 feet left of the runway. Examination of the airplane's rudder controls revealed a fracture outside of the weld attaching the base of a T-shaped bar beneath the pilot's left rudder pedal to the torque tube connecting the left rudder pedals to the left and right seats. Further examination of the broken parts revealed a fatigue crack on the torque tube, originating on the rear outside portion of the fracture.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
a fatigue failure of the torque tube outside of the weld and the fractured pilot's side left rudder pedal.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/25/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | BLAIR |
| Event State | NEBRASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 68008 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | EAGLE FIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | K46 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 130 |
| Airport Elevation | 1325 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1452 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OMA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 983 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1649 |
| 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) | 834 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 26 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1005 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N36AH |
| NTSB Number | CHI98LA047 |
| 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 | Hall |
| Aircraft Model | RV-6 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | RV-6 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 20814 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 5 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 61 |
| Airframe Hours | 439 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AARON LEE HALL |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2315 SOUTH 88TH STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | OMAHA |
| Aircraft Owner State | NE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 68124 |
| 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 | K46 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| 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 | Takeoff |
| 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 | 31 |
| Runway Length | 3450 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |