Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Pleasure Island Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Port Arthur, Texas 77640
Sunday, July 11, 1993 17:39 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE UNREGISTERED AIRPLANE WAS SEEN TO MAKE A HARD LEFT TURN AND ENTER A VERTICAL DIVE FROM AN ALTITUDE OF BETWEEN 100 AND 150 FEET. AT AN ALTITUDE OF ABOUT 75 FEET, THE FABRIC SEPARATED FROM THE RIGHT WING AND THE WING FAILED. POST ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION DISCLOSED THE RUDDER CONTROL CABLE WAS FRAYED, HAD BROKEN, AND WAS OF THE WRONG SIZE. THE WING FABRIC WAS DETERIORATED, HAD BEEN PREVIOUSLY PATCHED, WAS OF THE WRONG TYPE AND WEIGHT, AND BORE SPANWISE TEARS. THE WING SPAR HAD FAILED AT A POINT WHERE PREVIOUS REPAIRS HAD BEEN MADE. ADDITIONALLY, THE WING RIBS WERE OF THE WRONG TYPE. THE PILOT HAD CONVERTED WHAT HAD BEEN A SINGLE PLACE ULTRALIGHT VEHICLE INTO A TWO PLACE AIRPLANE BY USING PARTS FROM WRECKED ULTRALIGHTS, CAUSING THE EMPTY WEIGHT TO EXCEED THE MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE FAILURE OF THE WING FABRIC AND WING SPAR. FACTORS WERE: THE IMPROPER DESIGN CHANGE, MAJOR REPAIR, AND REBUILDING OF THE AIRCRAFT BY THE PILOT IN COMMAND.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/11/1993 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1739 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | PORT ARTHUR |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77640 |
| Event Date Year | 1993 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | PLEASURE ISLAND |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | 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) | 0 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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) | 642 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 15 1993 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 825 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 50178 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | NONE |
| NTSB Number | DEN93LA077 |
| 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 | WEEDHOPPER |
| Aircraft Model | B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 254 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Not Registered |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 2 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | NOWELL, CHARLES C. SR. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4610 BUFFALO |
| Aircraft Owner City | BEAUMONT |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77640 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | NOWELL, CHARLES C. SR. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 4610 BUFFALO |
| Operator City | BEAUMONT |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 77640 |
| 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 | NONE |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1730 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |