Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Marina Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Marina, California 93908
Sunday, December 9, 2001 14:39 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
About 800 feet above ground level during the airplane's roll out turn onto the final approach leg for landing, the right wing spar broke and the wing separated from the airplane. Thereafter, the airplane commenced an uncontrolled descent until impacting an open field. The pilot built the experimental airplane principally from wood and fabric components. A family member reported that the pilot had designed the "one of a kind" airplane and planned to compete for various speed and climb performance records for airplanes having gross weights less than 660 pounds. An examination of the separated right wing's internal structure revealed evidence of a preimpact fuel leak. Styrofoam-like material had been used inside the wing, and it was discolored from fuel. The accident occurred on the first flight since the pilot ground looped the airplane, during which mishap the right wing was damaged. Following the ground loop, fuel leaked from the right wing which weakened the wing's wood structure. The pilot maintained his airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the failure the right wing spar and the subsequent separation of the right wing. Contributing factors were the pilot's inadequate maintenance, and the weakened wing structure due to a preexisting fuel tank leak.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/9/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1439 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Marina |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93908 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 364017N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1214449W |
| Event Location Airport | Marina Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | OAR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 110 |
| Airport Elevation | 134 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 80 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SNS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 84 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| 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) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15543 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 9 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1523 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2004 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO San Jose, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N204ED |
| NTSB Number | LAX02LA043 |
| 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 | Rominger |
| Aircraft Model | Zic Zac Bird |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 765 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 630 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 5 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | David E. Rominger |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Marina |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93933 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | OAR |
| Departure City | Marina |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1432 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | OAR |
| Destination City | Marina |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - final approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 16 2004 1:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 29 |
| Runway Length | 3000 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |