Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Rapid City Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rapid City, South Dakota 57701
Thursday, July 26, 2001 17:45 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane sustained substantial damage prior to taxi when a gust of wind flipped it over on its back. The solo student pilot reported the winds were from the south and under 10 knots and the sky conditions appeared favorable with good visibility. He reported that at 1735 he started the engine and continued to accomplish the checklist items. He reported that about 10 minutes later he was still accomplishing the checklist items and had not started to taxi, when "... all of a sudden, the control wheels started to abruptly move forward and backward…My first reaction was to hold the control wheel forward to stabilize the movement while at the same time I turned to look behind me... In a matter of seconds I felt the tail and [end] of the plane rising up...The next thing I remember is being violently flipped over..." At 1655, the surface weather observation at RAP was: winds 170 degrees at 6 knots, 10 mile visibility, light rain, clear, temperature 24 degrees C, dew point 20 degrees C, altimeter 29.95. At 1759, the surface weather observation at RAP was: winds 140 degrees at 31 knots gusting to 37 kts, 1 3/4 miles visibility, rain, mist, 2,800 feet scattered, 4,900 feet broken, 6,500 feet overcast, temperature 17 degrees C, dewpoint 16 degrees C, altimeter 29.98.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The student solo pilot failed to compensate for the wind conditions. Factors included the high wind, gusts, and tailwind.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/26/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1745 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rapid City |
| Event State | SOUTH DAKOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 57701 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Rapid City Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RAP |
| 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 | 3202 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1759 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RAP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3202 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4900 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2800 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 1.75 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 31 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 37 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 4135 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Moderate |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12317 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 27 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1531 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 24 2002 3:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-Rapid City FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N714GF |
| NTSB Number | CHI01LA253 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 150M |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15079159 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 1 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 80 |
| Airframe Hours | 5663 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | David J. Eatherton |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | HC 80 Box 460 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Piedmont |
| Aircraft Owner State | SD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 57769 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | RAP |
| Departure City | Rapid City |
| Departure State | SD |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| 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 | Taxi |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 29 2002 9:59AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |