Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Williamsburg, Ohio 45176
Monday, April 11, 2005 13:08 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The certificated flight instructor and student pilot were practicing spins about 3,000 feet agl, and did not recover. The airplane subsequently descended in a nose down spiral, and impacted a field. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the rudder was jammed beyond its left travel limit. Further examination revealed that the two rudder bumpers had been installed inverted, and the right side rudder bumper had traveled over and beyond the rudder stop, and locked behind it. Review of the maintenance records revealed no specific mention of the rudder bumpers during the 28-year history of the airplane. However, work had been performed near the rudder bumpers on several occasions. Additionally, the paint on the inverted rudder bumpers was consistent with a paint job completed about 8 years prior to the accident. The investigation could not determine if the rudder bumpers were inverted at the time of production, or if they had been inverted during the maintenance history of the airplane. The airplane manufacturer issued a service bulletin about 3 1/2 years prior to the accident. The purpose of the service bulletin was to provide an enhanced rudder stop, bumper, doubler and attachment hardware designed to assist in preventing the possibility of the rudder overriding the stop bolt during full left or right operation of the rudder. Specifically, the new rudder stop was much larger than the original rudder stop. The service bulletin had not been complied with on the accident airplane, and under 14 CFR Part 91, was not required.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

An improperly installed rudder bumper, which resulted in a rudder jam during spin training and subsequent uncontrolled descent into terrain. A factor was the operator did not comply with the service bulletin.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/11/2005
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1308
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Williamsburg
Event State OHIO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 45176
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 390107N
Event Location Longitude 0840014W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
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 --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1253 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 280
Weather Observation Facility ID LUK
Elevation of weather observation facility 483
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 15
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
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) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.99
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal 2
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 18839
NTSB Notification Source FAA GLOC
NTSB Notification Date Apr 11 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1430
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 20 2005 6:27AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Cincinnati, OH

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N24779
NTSB Number NYC05FA069
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model 152
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 15280373
Certified Max Gross Weight 1670
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Feb 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 38
Airframe Hours 10681
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Eastern Cincinnati Aviation, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address Clermont County Airport
Aircraft Owner City Batavia
Aircraft Owner State OH
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 45103
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Sporty's Academy
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address Clermont County Airport
Operator City Batavia
Operator State OH
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 45103
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 No
Departure Airport Code I69
Departure City Batavia
Departure State OH
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1230
Departure Time Zone EDT
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 Oct 4 2005 3:52PM
User who most recently changed record MUZD
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --