Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
White Post Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
White Post, Virginia 22663
Thursday, July 31, 2003 16:05 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The owner/mechanic overhauled the engine and gave the airplane an annual inspection. He took off on the first flight after the maintenance and when the airplane was on final approach, as he added the last notch of flaps, heard a sound which he described as a "ping." When he retarded the throttle shortly there after, he was unable to arrest its descent, and the airplane dove to the ground and nosed over. An FAA inspector reported that when he exercised the up elevator movement was intermittently restricted by a radio rack. The radio rack was tight in place and there was no evidence that it had shifted or was loose. Further, the up elevator movement was half of that specified for the airplane, and the down elevator movement was 150 percent of that specified.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot/ mechanic's improper annual inspection including his rigging of the elevator flight control, and his subsequent inadequate preflight inspection of the airplane prior to flight, when he failed to detect the improperly rigged elevator flight control, both of which resulted in restricted up elevator control during the flare.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/31/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1605 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | White Post |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 22663 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 390345N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0780529W |
| Event Location Airport | White Post Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 3VA7 |
| 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 | 610 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1600 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 343 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OKV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 727 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2400 |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.12 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2019 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15956 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Dulles FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 4 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 29 2004 7:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Washington, DC FSDO, Dulles, Virginia |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N97168 |
| NTSB Number | NYC03LA175 |
| 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 | Stinson |
| Aircraft Model | 108 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 168 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1250 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 20 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 3080 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | James H. Perkins |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cross Junction |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 22625 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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 | 3VA7 |
| Departure City | White Post |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1600 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 3VA7 |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 9 2004 3:06PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 4 |
| Runway Length | 2000 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |