Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Turners Falls, Massachusetts 01376
Wednesday, May 11, 1983 18:05 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
ON 4/18/83, THE ULTRALIGHT VEHICLE WAS DAMAGED BY HIGH WINDS. THIS NECESSITATED THE REPLACEMENT OF THE FRONT & REAR SPARS AS WELL AS THE BATTENS WHICH PROVIDED CURVATURE TO THE UPPER WING SURFACE. PRIOR TO A TEST FLT, A WEIGHTED TAIL WHEEL WAS ALSO INSTALLED. SUBSEQUENTLY, A TEST PLT TOOK OFF TO EVALUATE THE ULTRALIGHT. WITNESSES OBSERVED THAT THE PLT CLIMBED TO ABOUT 1000 FT, THEN BEGAN A SERIES OF MANEUVERS. WHILE PERFORMING A MANEUVER, SIMILAR TO A LAZY 8, WITH BANK ANGLES UP TO 60 TO 90 DEG, THE ULTRALIGHT'S LEFT WING FOLDED. THE VEHICLE THEN ENTERED AN UNCONTROLLEDDESCENT & CRASHED. AN EXAM OF THE WRECKAGE REVEALED THAT THE AFT SPAR TIP HAD ROTATED AROUND THE AFT SPAR IN SUCH A MANNER THAT THE OUTBOARD WING PANEL HAD BENT DOWN & REARWARD. HOLES HAD NOT BEEN DRILLED & STEEL POP RIVETS HAD NOT BEEN INSTALLED, PER INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS, TO PREVENT THE SPAR TIP FROM ROTATING. ALSO, THE PLT'S BLOOD ALCOHOL LEVEL WAS FOUND TO BE 95 MG%. THE TEST PLT ALSO PERFORMED MAINTENANCE ON THE ULTRALIGHT.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/11/1983 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1805 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | TURNERS FALLS |
| Event State | MASSACHUSETTS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 01376 |
| Event Date Year | 1983 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1745 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 215 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BAF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 270 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 27 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4500 |
| 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) | 25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| 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 | 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) | 3131 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 25562 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 9:15AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | NONE |
| NTSB Number | NYC83FU004 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 103: Ultralight |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | VECTOR |
| Aircraft Model | 610 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 610 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1244 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 445 |
| Aircraft Category | Ultralight |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Not Registered |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 70 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AERODYNE SYSTEMS, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 194 MILLERS FALLS ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | TURNERS FALLS |
| Aircraft Owner State | MA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 01376 |
| 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 | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Unknown |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Unknown |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1800 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 22 2001 3:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 34 |
| Runway Length | 3000 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |