Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Cleveland, Missouri 64734
Saturday, November 6, 2004 11:45 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The homebuilt airplane collided with trees while making an off airport forced landing. The pilot reported that a malfunction occurred on the right wing while he was flying at 1,000 feet above mean sea level. He stated the airplane entered a right descending spiral. The airplane descended into a field about 2 miles away from his departure airstrip. The pilot stated the airplane contacted the ground then slid into trees, damaging the right wing. A post accident examination of the airplane revealed the fabric on the right wing had separated from the ribs. No other failures/malfunctions with the wing were noted. The pilot reported the fabric is glued to 1-inch rib caps in the wings. He also reported that it appeared as if the fabric had pulled away from the caps. The airplane was constructed in 1985 and it had been flown about 300 hours prior to the accident. The pilot reported the last annual inspection of the airplane was in April, 2004, and the airplane had been flown 4 hours since that inspection.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The separation of the wing skin from the wing structure and the pilot's subsequent inablility to maintain aircraft control. A factor associated with the accident was the tree that the airplane contacted.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/6/2004
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1145
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Cleveland
Event State MISSOURI
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 64734
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 384228N
Event Location Longitude 0943503W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport --
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID OJC
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
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) 17
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 240
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.96
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 Docket Number (internal use) 17124
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Nov 6 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1408
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 Kansas City, MO FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N90JW
NTSB Number CHI05CA025
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 --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Jabat, Inc.
Aircraft Model Avid Flyer
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 110
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 --
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name John J. Wackly
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City --
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country --
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Cleveland
Operator State MO
Operator Country USA
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code PVT
Departure City Cleveland
Departure State MO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1105
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code PVT
Destination City Cleveland
Destination State MO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record --
User who most recently changed record --
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --