Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Chandler, Arizona 85249
Saturday, June 8, 2002 7:30 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During cruise flight, both of the left wings of the amateur built experimental biplane separated in flight. The airplane fuselage was a metal frame, and the empennage and wings were fabric covered wood. The pilot had contacted a friend, who was also constructing a Celebrity, a few weeks before the accident concerning loose fabric on the airplane's wings. The friend told the pilot not to fly the airplane until the loose fabric issue had been addressed. According to the friend, the pilot washed the airplane, let it dry in the sun, and noted that the loose fabric tightened up. The pilot believed that the loose fabric issue had been resolved. Various wing components were examined and compared with the building instructions and plan drawings. The examination revealed fracture features indicating that the wings failed in a positive overload event. No evidence of preexisting cracks or deteriorated wood was found. However, the comparison with the design revealed that the construction of the spars did not comply with their design drawings. In particular, the spars did not contain stiffener blocks adjacent to the upper and lower caps, and the filler blocks ended abruptly in a vertical line instead of tapering to the upper and lower caps. The filler blocks were thinner than specified in the plans and occupied 50 percent of the space between the spar caps instead of all the void. The filler blocks were also shorter than plan specification and did not taper according to the plan. Both of these conditions would reduce the load carrying capacity of the wing, especially in compression. The failure location was primarily at the outboard end of the filler blocks. No material defects were found during the examination.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

failure of the wing spars and the in-flight separation of the aircraft wing due to the builder's inadequate manufacture of this experimental aircraft. Also causal was the current owner/pilot's continued flight with known mechanical discrepancies.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/8/2002
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 730
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Chandler
Event State ARIZONA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 85249
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 331219N
Event Location Longitude 1114509W
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 750 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 150
Weather Observation Facility ID CHD
Elevation of weather observation facility 1243
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 5
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
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) 35
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.71
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 2
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 18123
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jun 8 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 830
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 13 2005 12:54PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-SDL-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8205H
NTSB Number LAX02FA188
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 Fisher
Aircraft Model Celebrity
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number AVI001
Certified Max Gross Weight 1230
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 --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Joseph P. Carter
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Chandler
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 85224
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 P19
Departure City Chandler
Departure State AZ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone MST
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 Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record May 31 2005 3:45PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --