Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Roben-Hood Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Big Rapids, Michigan 49307
Wednesday, August 4, 2004 8:05 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was substantially damaged when the cargo door inadvertently opened in-flight and a box departed the aircraft, striking the horizontal stabilizer. The pilot reported that after loading the cargo, he and the loaders had to "muscle the cargo door closed due to a large volume of freight." The taxi and takeoff were normal, but a few minutes after leveling at cruising altitude the door ajar light illuminated. The pilot stated that "shortly after this illumination, there was a loud thud and [he] figured that a box had departed the aircraft and struck the tail." The pilot reported that aircraft control was normal after the accident. He stated that he employed the door ajar checklist, diverted to an intermediate airport, and landed uneventfully. When he exited the aircraft, the pilot saw the damage to the left horizontal stabilizer. An inspection of the cargo door installation on the accident aircraft revealed the door structure and locking mechanism were intact and appeared undamaged. The door closed and latched properly. The cargo door had a window installed. The inspection noted that with this design the door had enough flexibility to allow the forward frame of the door to be seated in the door jamb and latched, while the aft frame was outside the jamb and unlatched. The micro-switch for the DOOR WARNING annunciator light was located on the forward jamb. Therefore, it was possible in that configuration for the aft cargo door latch not to be engaged without the annunciator light being illuminated.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to verify that the cargo door was latched properly prior to flight and the subsequent in-flight opening of the door. A contributing factor was the box which departed the cargo compartment and struck the horizontal stabilizer.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/4/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 805 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Big Rapids |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49307 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 434321N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0853015W |
| Event Location Airport | ROBEN-HOOD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RBQ |
| 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 | 990 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 755 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RQB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 990 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 11000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 7000 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.87 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17120 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 5 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1559 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 27 2005 3:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-Grand Rapids FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1037N |
| NTSB Number | CHI04LA213 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 208B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 208B0334 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 8750 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 19 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 18 |
| Airframe Hours | 5403 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Superior Aviation Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 250 Riverhills Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Kingsford |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 49802 |
| 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 | EATA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | GRR |
| Departure City | Grand Rapids |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 750 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | TVC |
| Destination City | Traverse City |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| 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 | -- |