Brodhead Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Brodhead, Wisconsin 53520
Tuesady, September 10, 2002 12:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During landing on a turf runway, the nose landing gear strut bent rearward and the airplane nosed over. The pilot stated that the landing touchdown was normal and on the mains with the nose held off of the ground until the airplane slowed down. He said that the nose landing gear touched a small bump and then collapsed. The airplane subsequently nosed over. Examination of the airplane revealed that the nose landing gear strut had bent smoothly through about 90 degrees.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the nose landing gear strut for undetermined reasons.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/10/2002
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1230
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Brodhead
Event State WISCONSIN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 53520
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 423530N
Event Location Longitude 0892230W
Event Location Airport BRODHEAD
Event Location Nearest Airport ID C37
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 793
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1220 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 278
Weather Observation Facility ID EFT
Elevation of weather observation facility 1085
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 10
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
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) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 22
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 310
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 12
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.01
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13915
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Sep 10 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1414
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 30 2003 9:55AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N54LF
NTSB Number CHI02LA278
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 Frank
Aircraft Model RV-8A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 81435
Certified Max Gross Weight 1826
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 11 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 89
Airframe Hours 89
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Lorin L. Frank
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3814 Auburn Blvd. Ste. 75
Aircraft Owner City Sacramento
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 95821
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 JVL
Departure City JANESVILLE
Departure State WI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1210
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code C37
Destination City Brodhead
Destination State WI
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jul 16 2003 8:33AM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 27
Runway Length 2430
Runway Width 155
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --