Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Diego, California 92154
Saturday, March 8, 2003 10:45 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane nosed over following an emergency landing in an open field. The pilot was flying westward toward the coastline at 1,500 feet. He heard a "bang," and then felt abnormal vibrations. He elected to perform an emergency landing in an open field. Upon landing in the soft ground the airplane nosed over. Initial inspection revealed a splintered propeller. The manufacturer's examination of the carbon fiber composite propeller revealed numerous indentations on the leading edges and patterns consistent with a foreign object strike that occurred prior to blade delamination. The manufacturer identified a 1.9-inch-wide abrasion mark along the entire blade width that resembled patterns that are commonly associated with nylon safety belt webbing. The aircraft kit manufacturer reported that the standard harness webbing provided by them is 1.75 inches wide. The pilot said that the rear seat of the airplane had the standard factory supplied 3-point harness webbing and the pilot seat had an after market 4-point harness. The airplane is a high wing design, with the wing mounted above and behind the open cockpit. The engine and pusher propeller are mounted on top of the wing.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
propeller delamination due to the pilot's failure to properly secure the rear seat shoulder harness prior to flight. A contributing factor was the soft ground in which the airplane landed.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/8/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1045 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | San Diego |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92154 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 323513N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1170552W |
| 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 | 1003 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSDM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 526 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16117 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 8 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1136 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 1 2004 7:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO-San Diego, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N670JW |
| NTSB Number | LAX03LA110 |
| 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 | Kolb Company |
| Aircraft Model | Firestar |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 670 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 825 |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 11 |
| Airframe Hours | 250 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John Wood |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Spring Valley |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 91977 |
| 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 | KSDM |
| Departure City | San Diego |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1035 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KSDM |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 18 2004 5:41PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |