Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bend, Oregon 97701
Friday, October 5, 2001 16:00 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Just after the pilot entered the aerobatic box in his experimental One Design aircraft, the airplane developed an "extreme vibration." The pilot therefore shut the engine off and began a glide toward a nearby road. During the descent, with the propeller windmilling, the aircraft shook so violently that it was very difficult for the pilot to see, and he became concerned that the engine might separate from the airframe. When the aircraft reached the ground, the pilot tried to land on a narrow road, but with his visibility still significantly effected by the vibration of the airframe, he was unable to keep the One Design within the lateral confines of the road. During the landing roll, one of the main wheels departed the side of the road and encountered soft terrain. The main gear wheel then began to sink into the soft terrain, and the aircraft nosed over onto its back. It was later determined that one of the propeller counterweight mounting brackets (along with the counterweight itself) had separated from the propeller. A post-accident inspection of the counterweight on the apposing blade revealed that one of its mounting bolts was under-torqued approximately 115 inch-pounds below the value listed in the associated assembly torque table. The propeller, which was a non-certified model with composite blades, had been loaned to the pilot by the manufacturer, while his propeller was undergoing a periodic inspection.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the separation of a propeller counterweight mounting bracket due to incorrect mounting bolt torque. Factors include significant powerplant vibration during the forced landing, no suitable landing area, and soft terrain next to the narrow road on which the pilot attempted his emergency landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/5/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Bend |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97701 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| 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 | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 20 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11557 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 5 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1630 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2002 1:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Portland FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N55TE |
| NTSB Number | SEA02LA003 |
| 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 | Ellsberg |
| Aircraft Model | One Design |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 94-0239 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Thomas R. Ellsberg |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1031 NW Stoneridge |
| Aircraft Owner City | Bend |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97701 |
| 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 | S07 |
| Departure City | Bend Municipal |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1545 |
| 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 | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 19 2002 2:06PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |