Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Private Airstrip Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mayetta, Kansas 66509
Saturday, May 8, 2004 12:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane impacted trees while on final approach. The pilot reported that when he was on final approach, approximately 100-200 feet above ground level, the airplane "suddenly and abruptly rolled approximately 30 degrees right and then left while the nose maintained the same pitch attitude." The pilot stated he was able to level the wings, however, the "controls felt abnormally mushy." The pilot also reported that the "rate of descent also suddenly increased to a dangerous level." The pilot stated he added full engine power, but the aircraft kept descending. The pilot reported, "Given the mushy controls and rate of descent I was afraid to pull up too much and risk a stall. The aircraft was already at a nose high angle of attack... It already felt like it was on the edge of a stall. [The] aircraft continued to feel unstable with a dangerously high sink rate." The pilot reported the airplane was unable to "build up enough speed to break out of wind currents before contacting trees."
The pilot reported that the winds were from the south at 15 knots, gusting to 20 knots. The pilot stated the wind conditions were at his "upper personal limitations" and that he had previously landed in similar conditions. Surface wind data was collected from nearby weather observation facilities. The collected wind data indicated the winds at the time of the accident were from the south-southwest, between 9 and 18 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot failed to maintain airspeed and aircraft control during final approach, which resulted in a stall/mush flight condition. A factor to the accident was the crosswind and the trees.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/8/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1230 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Mayetta |
| Event State | KANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 66509 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 392056N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0954134W |
| Event Location Airport | Private Airstrip |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PVT |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.125 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 270 |
| Airport Elevation | 900 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 170 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TOP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 880 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 17 |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.96 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2590 |
| 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) | 15848 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 10 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 830 |
| 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 | Federal Aviation Administration - Wichita FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N12JV |
| NTSB Number | CHI04CA115 |
| 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 | Villeneuve |
| Aircraft Model | RV-3 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 88 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | Aug 4 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 79 |
| Airframe Hours | 309 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Not Limited |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3511 Siliverside Road, Ste 105 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810 |
| 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 | TOP |
| Departure City | Topeka |
| Departure State | KS |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PVT |
| Destination City | Mayetta |
| Destination State | KS |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - final approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 20 2004 5:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | DINC |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 090 |
| Runway Length | 1800 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |