Arlington Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Arlington, Washington 98223
Saturday, June 27, 1998 13:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Just after liftoff on its first flight after completion of construction, the aircraft started to roll slowly to the right. The pilot applied left aileron, but the aircraft rolled further to the right. The pilot then cut the power and attempted to land with full left rudder and significant left aileron applied. As the aircraft slowed, it rolled left and dropped onto the runway surface. A post-accident inspection of the aircraft revealed that the builder/pilot had rigged the ailerons backwards during construction (attached pushrods to the wrong control stick assembly holes), so that moving the stick to the left would cause the aircraft to roll to the right..

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot/builder's attachment inadequate installation of the aileron control pushrods to the control stick assembly, resulting in the ailerons deflecting in a direction opposite of the input applied by the pilot. Also causal was the pilot's inadequate preflight inspection which failed to detect the improper operation of the aileron control.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/27/1998
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1300
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City ARLINGTON
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98223
Event Date Year 1998
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport ARLINGTON MUNICIPAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID AWO
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 137
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
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 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) 20
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
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) --
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) 269
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jun 27 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1510
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Feb 16 2001 11:57AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N265KK
NTSB Number SEA98LA111
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 Koster
Aircraft Model MURPHY REBEL
Aircraft Series Identifier MURPHY REB
Aircraft Serial Number 265
Certified Max Gross Weight 1800
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 29 1998 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 0
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name KENNETH K. KOSTER
Aircraft Owner Street Address 4080 LEIGH LANE
Aircraft Owner City S. LEIGH CANYON
Aircraft Owner State WY
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 83452
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 AWO
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1300
Departure Time Zone PDT
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 Feb 20 2001 6:29PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 34
Runway Length 5333
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --