Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Perris, California 92370
Saturday, October 27, 2001 15:45 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The amateur-built airplane nosed over during a forced landing in a soft field following the partial failure of the aileron and elevator control system. The two pilots flew the tandem seat airplane as part of the Phase 1 flight testing requirements following the completion of the experimental airplane's manufacture. At the conclusion of the flight test, the pilots noticed that there was something wrong with the flight controls when they went to return to their departure airport. The pilots determined that they had no aileron control and limited elevator control by use of the electric trim, but maintained rudder control. They elected to land in a field that would allow a straight in approach. The approach and landing were uneventful until the landing gear wheels dug into the soft dirt, resulting in the airplane nosing over. The FAA inspector, who examined the airplane following the accident, reported that the bolt and nut that connect the aileron and elevator control tubes to the airframe were not in place. The airplane accumulated 6.9 flight hours since its manufacture and special airworthiness certification issuance. The rear-seat pilot was the airplane's builder.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the airplane builder's failure to properly install a bolt and nut into the aileron and elevator flight control system. A contributing factor was the soft terrain conditions for the ensuing forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/27/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1545 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Perris |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92370 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 335250N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1171534W |
| 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 | 1555 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 285 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RIV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 818 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16308 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 27 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1600 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 18 2010 11:49AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Riverside, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N325L |
| NTSB Number | LAX02LA015 |
| 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 | Thomson |
| Aircraft Model | Harmon Rocket II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 141 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1900 |
| 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 | Mar 8 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 7 |
| Airframe Hours | 7 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | James W. Thomson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Corona Del Mar |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92625 |
| 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 | CNO |
| Departure City | Chino |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1530 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| 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 | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 18 2010 11:49AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |