Hawthorne Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Hawthorne, California 90250
Saturday, February 2, 2002 11:19 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

On the landing rollout the airplane veered to the right of runway centerline and struck a taxi light with the left wing. The purpose of the flight was to practice full stall touch-and-go takeoffs and landings. The student had conducted five touch-and-go takeoffs and landings to a full stall with no discrepancies noted. The sixth touch-and-go landing was the accident landing. The CFI observed that the student had the control stick full aft and was applying left rudder to correct for the drift to the right. As the airplane continued to drift to the right the CFI applied full left rudder; however, the left wing struck the taxi light. During the airplane inspection it was observed that the tension of the right main landing gear bungee cord was slack. No further mechanical anomalies were noted.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Failure of the student to maintain directional control of the airplane on the landing rollout and failure of the CFI to adequately supervise the flight. A contributing factor was the decreased tension of the right main landing gear shock cord/bungee.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/2/2002
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1119
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Hawthorne
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 90250
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 335537N
Event Location Longitude 1182011W
Event Location Airport HAWTHORNE MUNI
Event Location Nearest Airport ID HHR
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 66
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1120 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID HHR
Elevation of weather observation facility 66
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
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) 17
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.14
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) 14041
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Feb 2 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1130
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 30 2003 9:55AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-LAX-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N300PS
NTSB Number LAX02LA074
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 Aviat
Aircraft Model Pitts S-2B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 5340
Certified Max Gross Weight 1700
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
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 Apr 1 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 76
Airframe Hours 313
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name HART PITTS GROUP
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2830 E. Wardlow Rd.
Aircraft Owner City Long Beach
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 90807
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name HART AIR
Operator Same as Owner? No
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code LGB
Departure City Long Beach
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1030
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code HHR
Destination City HAWTHORNE
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jun 28 2003 2:50PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 25
Runway Length 4956
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --