Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Thomaston - Upson County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Thomaston, Georgia 30286
Thursday, April 28, 2005 9:35 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated the main wheels touched down normally; when the tailwheel touched down, the airplane pulled hard to the left, and application of the rudder had no effect. The airplane continued left off the side of the runway and collided with a lighting system. The tailwheel rudder arm assembly was found fractured and separated on the right side, and evidence of a previous weld repair inboard of the fracture was observed. The weld repair was observed at the thickest area of the tapered rudder arm assembly, and the fracture was observed at a smaller-diameter area. Metallurgical examination of the rudder arm assembly revealed the aluminum component showed deformation near the fracture surfaces with no evidence of fatigue.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The unapproved repair of the tailwheel rudder arm assembly, which resulted in an overload failure during touchdown and subsequent loss of control of the airplane and on-ground collision with an object.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/28/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 935 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Thomaston |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30286 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 325717N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0841547W |
| Event Location Airport | Thomaston - Upson County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KOPN |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 796 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 940 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KOPN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 796 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.15 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KOPN 281120Z AUTO 01005KT 10SM CLR 07/05 A30 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18890 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 28 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 31 2006 7:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA Atlanta FSDO - 11 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7053K |
| NTSB Number | ATL05LA076 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-20 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 20-160 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1950 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1.9 |
| Airframe Hours | 1631.9 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Matlad, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3511 Silverside Road, Suite 105 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Michael Lee Graves |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 9931 Warshire Drive |
| Operator City | Saint Louis |
| Operator State | MO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 63132 |
| 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 | KAIK |
| Departure City | Aiken |
| Departure State | SC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 815 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | KOPN |
| Destination City | Thomaston |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 17 2005 11:38AM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 30 |
| Runway Length | 5701 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |