Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Palm Springs, California 92262
Friday, July 20, 2001 19:01 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane collided with a wind turbine following an in-flight separation of the majority of the right canard and all of the right elevator. The accident occurred in an area that commonly had turbulent conditions. The airplane fragmented; the right canard and elevator were not in the main debris field, and were found about 1/2 mile from the main wreckage. The canard and elevator damage was not symmetrical. The left side remained intact and attached to the fuselage while the right side separated near the fuselage attachment points. All that remained of the right canard was the top skin, which had scattered patches of paint missing. The owner and the pilot built the airplane together. They acquired pieces for the airplane from different sources, and assembled the airplane. The owner did not recall who actually built the elevator. They obtained advice and technical suggestions from various builders of the model at their home field. They did not contact the kit manufacturer during construction. The kit manufacturer maintained close contact with builders through newsletters and a company website. They designed an improvement to the elevator, which incorporated a wider chord. They recommended that owners make the change if they had not flown their airplane. The manufacturer provided a full size diagram so that builders could physically place their piece on top of the drawing to insure that their manufactured piece conformed to the drawing. The accident elevator did not conform to the kit manufacturer's instructions. In a newsletter to builders, the manufacturer informed them that the airplanes would be difficult or even dangerous to fly if the elevators did not have the correct cross section. The kit manufacturer repeatedly stressed the importance of the correct shape, weight, and balance of the elevators in their newsletters. On two occasions, once in 1979 and again in 1988, they noted that builders had installed balance weights in improper locations. In one case the builder experienced flutter, and investigation determined that he added weight to balance a reconstructed elevator. Instead of dividing the added weight between inboard and outboard mass balance points, he placed them all on the inboard point. The manufacturer noted that this was incorrect, and that the balance weights should not all be installed inboard. They stated that any variance of weight, stiffness, or shape from recommended design specifications should be considered dangerous, and builders should discard elevators that did not conform. The accident airplane had a large number of balance weights, and all of them were at the inboard mass balance point.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the failure of the builder to balance the elevators per the kit manufacturer's instructions resulting in flutter and in-flight separation of the right elevator.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/20/2001
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1901
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Palm Springs
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92262
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 345465N
Event Location Longitude 1163488W
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 --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1853 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 105
Weather Observation Facility ID PSP
Elevation of weather observation facility 477
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 7
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) 37
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 330
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 17
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.7
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal 2
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 20078
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jul 21 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 930
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 31 2006 10:47AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-RAL-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N25063
NTSB Number LAX01FA253
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name McDougall
Aircraft Model VERI EZE
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number MM320
Certified Max Gross Weight 1300
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 14 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 5
Airframe Hours 150
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name MIKE McDOUGALL
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City TUSCON
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 85741
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 No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code CNO
Departure City CHINO
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1830
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code PSP
Destination City Palm Springs
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record May 16 2006 11:47AM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --