Borrego Valley Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Borrego Springs, California 92004
Saturday, May 11, 2002 10:50 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The tail wheel equipped airplane veered off runway 7 and nosed over after encountering soft soil while landing. The pilot was interviewed by telephone and reported that the landing was normal. Near the end of the landing roll on runway 7, the aircraft veered left off the runway. He said that he was unable to correct the alignment before the airplane departed the paved runway surface and it nosed over after encountering soft desert-like soil. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical malfunctions of the airplane. The airport manager reported the sky was clear and the winds were calm at the time of the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the pilot to maintain control of the airplane during landing rollout resulting in a ground loop/swerve and a nose over. The soft terrain was a factor.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/11/2002
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1050
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Borrego Springs
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92004
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 331532N
Event Location Longitude 1161916W
Event Location Airport Borrego Valley
Event Location Nearest Airport ID L08
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 520
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1054 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 10
Weather Observation Facility ID KTRM
Elevation of weather observation facility -114
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 25
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
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) 23
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 320
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.93
Density Altitude (feet) 1583
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 14052
NTSB Notification Source
NTSB Notification Date May 11 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1220
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-FSDO-San Diego, CA

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1PH
NTSB Number LAX02LA156
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 Ham
Aircraft Model Pitts S-1C
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 168H
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 Aug 26 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 50
Airframe Hours 1128
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Clark Foster
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Laguna Niguel
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92677
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Jeffrey Yeskin
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Mission Viejo
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 92692
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 SNA
Departure City Santa Ana
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1000
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code L08
Destination City BORREGO SPRINGS
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jul 22 2003 4:49PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 7
Runway Length 5000
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --