Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Tehachapi Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tehachapi, California 93561
Wednesday, August 21, 2002 13:59 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane nosed over during a forced landing in a field following a loss of engine power during the departure climb. The pilot manufactured the airplane, and it was undergoing its first test flight following the issuance of a Special Airworthiness Certificate. Approximately 10 minutes after takeoff the engine lost power. The pilot elected to land in a field. The landing forced debris into the wheel pants, which locked up the wheels. The airplane nosed over coming to rest inverted. Post accident examination of the engine by an FAA inspector revealed a fuel leak around the "B" nut that attached the aluminum fuel line to the throttle body. Removal of the nut and line revealed that the line cracked at the point of the flare. The builder had manufactured and installed this line.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the owner/builder's improperly fabricated and installed fuel line, which cracked at the point of the flare, resulting in a fuel leak and loss of engine power during the takeoff climb. A contributing factor was the soft terrain that jammed the landing gear wheels, nosing over the airplane during the ensuing forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/21/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1359 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Tehachapi |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93561 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 350806N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1182622W |
| Event Location Airport | Tehachapi Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TSP |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 3998 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1346 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 110 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MHV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2791 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| 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) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.92 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16342 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 21 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1429 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 29 2004 1:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-VNY-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N62VR |
| NTSB Number | LAX02LA256 |
| 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 | Dodd |
| Aircraft Model | RV-4 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1051 |
| 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 | Apr 29 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0.3 |
| Airframe Hours | 0.3 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Lee P. Dodd |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tehachapi |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93561 |
| 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 | TSP |
| Departure City | Tehachapi |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1355 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | TSP |
| Destination City | Tehachapi |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 2 2004 3:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 11 |
| Runway Length | 4035 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |