Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Antioch, California 94509
Tuesady, June 18, 2002 12:20 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A witness located north east of the accident site, observed the airplane "starting a vertical climb, slowly rolling over and diving straight down." The witness stated that the airplane "never appeared to be trying to pull out of the dive." Subsequently, the witness lost sight of the airplane behind a mountain, and heard the "sound of impact." Examination of the wreckage revealed a screwdriver located in the aft section of the fuselage. Multiple witness marks were observed around the elevator bellcrank housing, and numerous gouges on the screwdriver. When the screwdriver was placed between the elevator bellcrank and housing, and the bellcrank moved by hand, the elevator control was restricted to the neutral position. The energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy analysis performed on the screwdriver conclusively demonstrated that the screwdriver was lodged between the various structural items.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of control while performing acrobatic maneuvers due to a screwdriver restricting elevator travel. A contributing factor was the airplane's fuselage not being sterile of foreign objects.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/18/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1220 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Antioch |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94509 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 375609N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1214600W |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CCR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 26 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 16 |
| 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) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| 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) | 29.79 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2627 |
| 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) | 15200 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 18 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1315 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2004 8:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Oakland, California |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N644LL |
| NTSB Number | LAX02LA202 |
| 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 | Yakovlev |
| Aircraft Model | YAK 52 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 833310 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2899 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Unknown |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 15 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 197.2 |
| Airframe Hours | 1164.1 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Melinda M. Whiteway |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2409 Pine Knoll Drive #7 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Walnut Creek |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 74595 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Raymond S. Puddy |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 190 Oak Park Lane |
| Operator City | Pleasant Hill |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 94523 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | Livermore |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1005 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CCR |
| Destination City | Concord |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 31 2004 12:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |