Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Jean Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Jean, Nevada 89019
Friday, December 17, 2004 10:30 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane's clamshell canopy door departed the airframe and struck the pilot's shoulder, while in a banking maneuver. As the pilot initiated a 30-degree turn to the left, the airplane's left canopy door suddenly became ajar, and he experienced difficulty flying the airplane. He attempted to regain control of the airplane, and about 2 to 3 seconds later, the door canopy separated completely from the airframe. After detaching, it struck the pilot's left shoulder, and then impacted the side of the fuselage; he landed at the airport without further incident. After egressing the cockpit, both pilots noted that the canopy latching mechanism was still in the locked position, affixed to the airframe. After several doctor's visits, the pilot was determined to have suffered tendon damage to his left shoulder. Technical examination of the airplane disclosed that the upper aft hinge of the canopy door failed first, followed by the forward hinge and a bolt attaching the bottom latch to the frame. The hinge had apparently undergone stress from the door remaining open during windy conditions or while the propeller was under power over an undetermined number of prior flights. The airplane's flight manual indicates in several locations that the door is to remain closed during such conditions.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
an in-flight separation of the left cockpit door due to the failure of the hinges from repeated exposure to wind or propeller slip stream forces while in the open position. The hinge failures were the ultimate result of the failure of persons unknown to follow the procedures/directives in the airplane flight manual.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/17/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Jean |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89019 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 360148N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1153558W |
| Event Location Airport | Jean Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 0L7 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | 2832 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1056 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LAS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2127 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| 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) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.5 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1763 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19374 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 17 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1145 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 28 2006 1:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-LAS-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N285AM |
| NTSB Number | LAX05LA083 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Aircraft Mfg & Dev. Co. (AMD) |
| Aircraft Model | CH-2000 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 20-1046 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1690 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Nimbus II LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4510 N. Bent Tree Cir. W |
| Aircraft Owner City | Litchfield Park |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85340 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | American Aviation |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2301 E. Sunset Rd |
| Operator City | Jean |
| Operator State | NV |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 89019 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 0L7 |
| Departure City | Jean |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| 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 | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 31 2005 1:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |