Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mesquite, Texas 75149
Sunday, June 23, 2002 17:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The homebuilt airplane was destroyed following an in-flight separation of the left wing in level flight, and the subsequent uncontrolled flight into terrain. The outboard 2 feet of the left wing with the left wing spar was found approximately 300 yards from the main wreckage. The NTSB Metallurgist examination of the wing revealed fracture features indicating that the main spar failed in an overload event. The fracture on the left wing appeared to initiate at the root end, and the root fractures were created by compression loads, indicative of upward aerodynamic loading. No evidence of preexisting cracks or deteriorated wood was found and the spars were manufactured from the specified material. The comparison with the design revealed that the wings were 16 inches (2 ribs voids) short and the location and angle of the wing support strut had been adjusted to account for the shorter wing. The misalignment of the strut attachment fittings and the root attachment fittings on the spar suggest that the holes had been drilled before the wing was fitted for the aircraft. The location of the remaining root attachment hole suggest that the wing was built for a different aircraft and installed on the accident aircraft. The effect of the improper wing, wing overall length, improper attachment at the wing strut locations, and improper root configuration and attachments on the wing failures is unknown. However, since the fractures appear to have started at the root, the out-of-specification features associated with the root may have had the most effect. The airplane was built from 1995 to 1999. On December 2, 1999, the FAA Registration Certificate was issued to the builder/pilot. There were no builder or maintenance records available to the Safety Board, and the history of the left wing and spar could not be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The in-flight separation of the outboard portion of the left wing due to the failure of the wing spar resulting from the builder's improper installation of a wing that did not meet the drawing specifications.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/23/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1730 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Mesquite |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 75149 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 324449N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0963150W |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 105 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TRL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 474 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| 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) | 14901 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 23 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2025 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 2 2004 8:07AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Dallas, texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N14VK |
| NTSB Number | FTW02LA187 |
| 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 | Lidster |
| Aircraft Model | Wittman Tailwind W-8 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 14808 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1552 |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 21 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Richard E. Lidster |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1323 Windmill Lane |
| Aircraft Owner City | Mesquite |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75149 |
| 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 | HQZ |
| Departure City | Mesquite |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 31 2003 10:44AM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |