Hawthorne Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Hawthorne, California 90250
Saturday, July 23, 1988 14:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

DURING A LOCAL FLIGHT, WHILE ON FINAL APPROACH, THE PILOT REPORTED THAT A GUST OF WIND FROM THE RIGHT RAISED THE RIGHT WING RESULTING IN THE LEFT WING CONTACTING THE RUNWAY. THE PILOT LOST CONTROL OF THE AIRPLANE WHICH NOSED OVER DURING THE LANDING ROLL. THERE WERE NO REPORTED MECHANICAL FAILURES OR MALFUNCTIONS.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/23/1988
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City HAWTHORNE
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 90250
Event Date Year 1988
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport HAWTHORNE
Event Location Nearest Airport ID HHR
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 63
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1950 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID HHR
Elevation of weather observation facility 63
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation UTC
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 2500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
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) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 240
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 12
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 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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency FAA
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 2038
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 23 1988 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1430
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 38410
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 11:56AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7YE
NTSB Number LAX88DUD01
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 FERRIS
Aircraft Model VARI-EZE
Aircraft Series Identifier VARI-EZE
Aircraft Serial Number 373
Certified Max Gross Weight 1150
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Aug 23 1987 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 115
Airframe Hours 245
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name FERRIS, BOB D
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1030B GOLDEN SPRINGS
Aircraft Owner City DIAMOND BAR
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name FERRIS, BOB
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 1030-B GOLDEN SPRINGS
Operator City DIAMOND BAR
Operator State CA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 91765
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 1315
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 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 25
Runway Length 4956
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --