Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Banks, Oregon 97106
Saturday, June 17, 2000 12:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot/owner assembled the French Cosmos Phase II single-engine, two place, experimentally registered aircraft and then modified the aircraft with the addition of a rudder. During the fourth flight a witness observed the aircraft 'out of control' and turning/descending in a nose-down attitude to ground impact. An acquaintance of the pilot reported that the pilot had confirmed with him in a conversation the day before the accident and following the third flight in the aircraft, that he was experiencing problems with controllability when using the rudder. Specifically, with the application of substantial rudder, the aircraft would initially yaw in the appropriate direction, and then begin a rapid uncommanded roll in the opposite direction (i.e., right roll with left rudder). Post-crash examination by an FAA inspector revealed that the rudder cables were connected opposite to conventional rigging practices, and that when the right rudder was applied at the foot pedals, a left deflection was observed. Additionally, the rudder pedals were observed to be jammed in the full right rudder position (right pedal forward) at the crash site, and the damage to the wing leading edges was consistent with a left spin at ground impact.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper installation, i.e., reversed connection, of the rudder control cables resulting in reverse rudder operation and a subsequent stall/spin. A contributing factor was the pilot's intentional design change/addition of a rudder to the aircraft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/17/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1200 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | BANKS |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97106 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 93 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HIO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 204 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| 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 | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 780 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SEA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 17 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1230 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 11 2001 4:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9022F |
| NTSB Number | SEA00LA107 |
| 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 | HAESSLER |
| Aircraft Model | COSMO PHASE II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | COSMO PHAS |
| Aircraft Serial Number | RWH01 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 900 |
| 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 | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 6 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 3 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HAESSLER, REINHARD |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 14635 NW GERMANTOWN ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | PORTLAND |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97231 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | PORTLAND |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| 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 | May 11 2001 4:06AM |
| 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 | -- |