Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Rush City Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rush City, Minnesota 55069
Saturday, January 12, 2002 14:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The amateur built, experimental airplane sustained substantial damage when it departed controlled flight from about 150 feet agl and impacted the terrain. A witness, who was a certified flight instructor, reported the pilot had been practicing taxiing the airplane. He did not think the pilot intended to takeoff. He reported the pilot was taxiing on runway 34 when the wind caught the left wing of the airplane and it lifted off the runway. The airplane turned sharply to the right and headed to the southeast. The airplane had difficulty climbing, but it cleared the trees. Then the airplane turned into the wind and climbed to approximately 125 -150 feet agl. The airplane was making very little forward progress and that it "hovered" for approximately 15 - 20 seconds. The airplane then turned downwind. The witness reported the airplane stalled and "pancaked" into the ground. The airplane wreckage came to rest about 175 feet from the initial point of impact. The witness reported the surface winds were about 12-15 knots out of the west, and the wind above the trees was about 40 knots out of the northwest. The pilot of the airplane did not hold a pilot's certificate or student pilot certificate. The pilot had applied for a FAA Third Class Medical Certificate but was denied. A witness reported the pilot had received about 20-25 hours of dual flight instruction in a Cessna 172. The pilot had not received any flight training in a tailwheel airplane. The experimental airplane's original FAA registered "N" number was N4047M. The pilot had purchased the airplane about one month prior to the accident. At the time of the accident, the airplane was found with the original N number painted over, and the number E 008DH was painted on the side of the airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The unqualified pilot inadvertently stalled the airplane. A factor was the unqualified pilot's lack of total experience.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/12/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1430 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Rush City |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 55069 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Rush City Regional Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ROS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 923 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1953 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ROS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 923 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.8 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -28 |
| 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) | 12168 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 14 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1036 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 28 2002 10:10AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-Minneapolis FSDP |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4047M |
| NTSB Number | CHI02LA062 |
| 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 | Wolter |
| Aircraft Model | Avid Flyer |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 91 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1000 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 233 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | David D. Haugen |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 37559 Oak Knoll Ave. |
| Aircraft Owner City | North Branch |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 55056 |
| 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 | ROS |
| Departure City | RUSH CITY |
| Departure State | MN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| 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 | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 5 2002 6:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 34 |
| Runway Length | 4400 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |