Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Texas Air Museum Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rio Hondo, Texas 78583
Saturday, December 13, 2003 9:59 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The 14,000-hour pilot, who was participating in a reenactment flight, departed runway 18 with a five to eight knot tailwind. During the takeoff roll, he raised the tail and the airplane pitched up and to the right. As the pilot landed the airplane back on the runway, "it pitched up again." The pilot stated that he lowered the nose to maintain airspeed and assess the situation. At an approximate altitude of 50 feet agl, "the nose dropped." The pilot moved the control stick forward and then backwards with no response. Subsequently, the aircraft impacted a soft plowed field and came to rest in the upright position adjacent to the runway. Approximately five miles west of the accident site, an automated surface observing system reported wind from 360 degrees at 14 knots at the time of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the tailwheel equipped airplane during takeoff. Contributing factors were the pilot's selection of the wrong runway for takeoff and the prevailing tailwind.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/13/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 959 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Rio Hondo |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78583 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 261343N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0973338W |
| Event Location Airport | Texas Air Museum Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | XS63 |
| 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 | 30 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1259 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HRL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 36 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 9800 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 15 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.06 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 31 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15514 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 15 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2004 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | San Antonio FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N42LB |
| NTSB Number | FTW04LA041 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bull |
| Aircraft Model | SE5-A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 080284 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1200 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 41 |
| Airframe Hours | 195 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John W. Houston |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 70 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Rio Hondo |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78583 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Texas Air Museum |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | PO Box 70 |
| Operator City | Rio Hondo |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 78583 |
| 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 | XS63 |
| Departure City | Rio Hondo |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1255 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 25 2004 4:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 18 |
| Runway Length | 1800 |
| Runway Width | 20 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |