Jack Northrop Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Hawthorne, California 90250
Friday, July 27, 2001 18:51 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Upon arriving at the destination airport, the pilot elected to land long on runway 25 in order to be closer to the airplane's hangar. According to the pilot, during landing flare a windshear or gust was encountered. Although he attempted to take corrective action, he lost control of his airplane, it impacted the runway hard, and a wing broke. No gusts were reported by the airport facility that indicated the local wind was from 250 degrees at 7 knots. The pilot had arrived at the destination airport after flying over 643 nautical miles on a nonstop flight.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain control of his airplane during the landing flare.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/27/2001
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1851
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Hawthorne
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 90250
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 335522N
Event Location Longitude 1182007W
Event Location Airport Jack Northrop Field
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 --
Airport Elevation 66
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1853 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID HHR
Elevation of weather observation facility 66
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 19
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 250
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.92
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report KHHR 280153Z 25007KT 10SM CLR 19/16 A2992
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12688
NTSB Notification Source
NTSB Notification Date Jul 27 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1940
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Feb 25 2003 9:38AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-FSDO Los Angeles, CA

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N131LH
NTSB Number LAX01LA264
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 Williams
Aircraft Model RV-6A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 20781
Certified Max Gross Weight 1750
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 5 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 59
Airframe Hours 847
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Leroy Williams
Aircraft Owner Street Address On File
Aircraft Owner City Manhattan Beach
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 90266
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code ALS
Departure City Alamosa
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1230
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code HHR
Destination City Hawthorne
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Nov 18 2002 2:20PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 25
Runway Length 4956
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --