Wakulla County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Panacea, Florida 32346
Friday, August 30, 2002 14:30 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot flew a normal approach to a rough, bumpy turf runway. The airplane touched down on the main landing gear at 60 knots, and when the nose wheel touched down, the airplane bounced three to four feet into the air. The airplane touched down on the main landing again, and when the nose settled on the runway, the airplane immediately flipped inverted. Examination of the airplane revealed the nose wheel was separated and the vertical stabilizer and rudder sustained crush damage. The pilot stated the nose wheel was found about 60 feet from the fuselage. The pilot stated the u-shaped aluminum bracket bolted to the nose wheel strut was found broken at the weld. Further examination by two welding experts revealed that the weld was "insufficient" on the shear points of the u-shaped aluminum bracket, and the weld had not completely penetrated the metal.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The builders inadequate weld on the nose gear u-shaped bracket, that resulted in the nose wheel strut failure, and subsequent nose over during an attempted landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/30/2002
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1430
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Panacea
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 32346
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 295920N
Event Location Longitude 0842343W
Event Location Airport Wakulla County
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 2J0
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 11
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1453 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 9
Weather Observation Facility ID TLH
Elevation of weather observation facility 81
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 25
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 2700
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 23
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 120
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) 30.01
Density Altitude (feet) 1473
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report METAR KTLH 302053Z 09009KT 10SM SCT027 BKN045 BKN2
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) 13675
NTSB Notification Source FAA Communication Center
NTSB Notification Date Aug 30 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1200
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 23 2003 8:35AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA Tampa FSDO - 35

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9097F
NTSB Number ATL02LA164
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 Barker
Aircraft Model Experimental
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 01
Certified Max Gross Weight 1400
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 --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection 40
Airframe Hours 40
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name James Perry Walker
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2724 Lombardy Ave
Aircraft Owner City Memphis
Aircraft Owner State TN
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 38111
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 No
Departure Airport Code 40J
Departure City Perry
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1330
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 2J0
Destination City Panacea
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record May 21 2003 2:17PM
User who most recently changed record POWP
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 18
Runway Length 2785
Runway Width 70
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --