Taft-Kern County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Taft, California 93268
Monday, June 7, 1999 10:15 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The aircraft had just come out of major repair and restoration by the pilot, with the supervision of an airframe and powerplant mechanic, and this was the first flight since the repairs. The pilot stated that he did not reference a manual when making any of the repairs. The pilot did a brief preflight inspection, which only included checking the flight controls for movement, not to verify their correct movement. After departure, about 30 feet agl, the aircraft rolled left, the pilot applied right control inputs, but the left bank angle increased. The left wing tip struck the ground and the aircraft cartwheeled once, coming to a rest 50 feet from the runway. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Inspector examined the aircraft and found the aileron control cables to be crossed and reversed. When interviewed by the FAA inspector, the pilot stated that the aircraft had been examined by the mechanic, but following the inspection, the pilot had made further repairs to the control system without the mechanic's knowledge.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inability to maintain control of the aircraft due to the aileron control cables being crossed and reversed. The pilot's lack of a thorough pre-flight inspection and the pilot not referencing a manual during the repairs on the aircraft is also causal.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/7/1999
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1015
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City TAFT
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93268
Event Date Year 1999
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport TAFT-KERN COUNTY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID L17
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 875
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 956 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 47
Weather Observation Facility ID BFL
Elevation of weather observation facility 507
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 26
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
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) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 360
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
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) 1441
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jun 7 1999 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1324
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 12 2000 11:39AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N74476
NTSB Number LAX99LA210
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 Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Bellanca
Aircraft Model BL-14-13
Aircraft Series Identifier BL-14-13
Aircraft Serial Number 1615
Certified Max Gross Weight 2270
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Feb 3 1990 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 10
Airframe Hours 2000
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name EVERETT R. WILLIAMS
Aircraft Owner Street Address 316 D STREET
Aircraft Owner City TAFT
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 93268
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) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code L17
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1015
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 Takeoff
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 7
Runway Length 3550
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --