Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
New Braunfels, Texas 78132
Friday, November 1, 2002 15:50 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The gear in transient light remained illuminated during the initial climb. After recycling the gear and observing the light was still on, the pilot visually checked to ensure that the gear was retracted. After leveling off at 16,000 feet the pilot noticed the ball was not centered and added rudder trim to compensate. Two minutes later the airplane began to yaw and shake violently, followed by an uncommanded roll to the left of about 70 degrees with about a 10 to 15 degree pitch down attitude. The pilot manually disconnected the autopilot and reduced power. After losing 1,000 feet, control of the airplane was regained. Power was added and the airplane climbed back to 16,000 feet. After leveling off the pilot tentatively put pressure on each flight control to assess the problem and stability of the airplane. No adverse reactions to control inputs were noted, with the exception of a slight buffet approaching 200 to 210 knots. Power was then reduced to maintain a cruise speed below 200 knots. During the descent the airplane was slipping badly and the ball was all the way to the right, but the pilot was able to compensate with roll input. After a normal landing the pilot noticed the rudder horn and approximately 18 inches of the trailing rudder had separated from the aircraft. The rear of the fuselage was wrinkled on both sides of the horizontal stabilizer, and the vertical stabilizer was wrinkled. The forward one-half of the left nose gear door was bent aft approximately 90 degrees. A subsequent search for the missing top 18 inches of the trailing rudder proved unsuccessful. The top 24 inches of the remaining rudder was sectioned and sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory Division, Washington, D.C., for examination. The Senior Metallurgist noted that the fracture surfaces observed were consistent with overstress separations. No evidence of pre-existing damage such as corrosion or fatigue was found.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The in-flight separation of the top of the rudder assembly for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/1/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1550 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | New Braunfels |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78132 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 294724N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0983618W |
| 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 | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1551 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 170 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BAZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 651 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1850 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.17 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14434 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA, Fort Worth, TX |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 4 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 25 2003 11:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | San Antonio, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N77UA |
| NTSB Number | FTW03LA034 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Rockwell |
| Aircraft Model | 690B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 11422 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 10375 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 30 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | 10000 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | University of Arkansas |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 3518 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fayetteville |
| Aircraft Owner State | AR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 72702 |
| 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 | U0AM |
| 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) | Executive/Corporate |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | AUS |
| Departure City | Austin |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1530 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CRP |
| Destination City | Corpus Christi |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 31 2003 6:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |