Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rochester Hills, Michigan 48063
Sunday, April 23, 1989 15:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT STATED THAT THE NOSE GEAR STRUCK SOMETHING ON THE RUNWAY DURING THE TAKEOFF ROLL. THERE WERE CHUNKS OF GRAVEL AND ASPHALT ON THE FIRST 800 FT OF THE RUNWAY. THE PILOT ATTEMPTED TO RETRACT THE NOSE GEAR BUT COULD NOT GET A FULL RETRACTION SO HE ELECTED TO FLY WITH IT PARTIALLY EXTENDED. A POWER REDUCTION WAS MADE TO 2000 RPM AT WHICH TIME THE AIRPLANE BEGAN TO VIOLENTLY VIBRATE. THE PILOT EXTENDED THE NOSE GEAR AND SHUT THE ENGINE DOWN IN PREPARATION FOR LANDING. THE NOSE GEAR COLLAPSED DURING THE LANDING. WITNESSES REPORTED SEEING SOMETHING FALLING FROM THE AIRPLANE DURING FLIGHT. EXAMINATION REVEALED A 20 INCH SECTION OF ONE PROPELLER BLADE WAS MISSING. THE WOODEN PROPELLER HAD A HISTORY OF DAMAGE WITH THE REPAIRS MADE BY THE PILOT.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S DECISION TO TAKEOFF FROM UNSUITABLE TERRAIN WHICH RESULTED IN DAMAGE TO THE PROPELLER AND NOSE GEAR.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/23/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | ROCHESTER HILLS |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 48063 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 0 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1637 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 103 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PTK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 980 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 14 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 12 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 800 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | FAA |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2246 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 42006 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 12:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N642JB |
| NTSB Number | CHI89DEC04 |
| 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 | BRIDGES |
| Aircraft Model | LONG-EZ |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | LONG-EZ |
| Aircraft Serial Number | LE-6996 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1325 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 22 1988 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 112 |
| Airframe Hours | 283 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | J. E. BRIDGES/ R. E. BRIDGES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2486 LONDON DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | TROY |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 48098 |
| 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 | 57D |
| Departure City | NEW HAVEN |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 7D2 |
| Destination City | TROY |
| Destination State | MI |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | 0 |
| Runway Width | 0 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |