St. Paul Downtown Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

St. Paul, Minnesota 55075
Saturday, August 8, 1992 12:24 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE FORMER WORLD WAR II BI-PLANE TRAINER HAD MADE A WHEEL LANDING ON THE HARD SURFACED RUNWAY. THE PILOT STATED THE AIRPLANE YAWED TO THE LEFT DUE TO A LIGHT LEFTHAND CROSSWIND. HE STATED HE APPLIED SOME RIGHT RUDDER TO COMPENSATE FOR THE YAW. SHORTLY AFTER RIGHT RUDDER APPLICATION THE AIRPLANE NOSED OVER INVERTED ONTO THE RUNWAY. THE PILOT STATED HE HAS MADE HUNDREDS OF LANDINGS IN THE AIRPLANE AND STATED IT'S AN '...AIRPLANE YOU CANNOT RELAX WITH ON LANDINGS.' ACCORDING TO THE PILOT, THE AIRPLANE WAS EQUIPPED WITH LARGER WHEELS AND BRAKES. THE LARGER WHEELS AND BRAKES ARE NORMALLY FOUND ON ANOTHER WORLD WAR II TRAINING AIRPLANE THAT WEIGHS APPROXIMATELY 1330 POUNDS MORE THAN THE ACCIDENT AIRPLANE. THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION (FAA) AIRCRAFT RECORDS BRANCH DID NOT LOCATE A RECORD OF AN FAA FORM 337 FOR THIS INSTALLATION.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

THE PILOT'S INATTENTIVENESS AND IMPROPER USE OF THE AIRPLANES BRAKES. A FACTOR WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO THIS ACCIDENT WAS THE INCORRECT BRAKE SYSTEM INSTALLED ON THE AIRPLANE.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/8/1992
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1224
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City ST. PAUL
Event State MINNESOTA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 55075
Event Date Year 1992
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport ST. PAUL DOWNTOWN
Event Location Nearest Airport ID STP
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 705
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1236 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 355
Weather Observation Facility ID STP
Elevation of weather observation facility 705
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
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) 8
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 24
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 240
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
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 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) 2304
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Aug 8 1992 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1537
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 47181
Date of most recent change to record Dec 11 2000 3:11PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N55982
NTSB Number CHI92LA235
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 BOEING
Aircraft Model A75N1
Aircraft Series Identifier A75N1
Aircraft Serial Number A75110
Certified Max Gross Weight 2717
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 Jun 25 1992 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 2500
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name JOHN L. VAN ATTA
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. BOX 104
Aircraft Owner City S. ST. PAUL
Aircraft Owner State MN
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 55075
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name JOHN L. VAN ATTA
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address P.O. BOX 104
Operator City S. ST. PAUL
Operator State MN
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 55075
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
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1120
Departure Time Zone CDT
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 Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 32
Runway Length 6711
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --