Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Redding, California 96002
Sunday, August 14, 2005 12:17 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pusher configuration propeller departed the airplane during flight and the airplane impacted trees during a forced landing in a field. The pilot was established in cruise flight at 7,500 feet mean sea level when he felt a vibration. The vibration then became "severe" and he heard a series of clinking noises. He immediately began preparations for an emergency landing because he knew that his propeller had separated from the airplane. The pilot force-landed the airplane in a vacant field. The pilot stated that about 2 weeks prior to the accident he had removed the wooden American Propeller and installed a different propeller. The new propeller was too long for ground clearance so the pilot reinstalled the original wooden American Propeller. The original hardware was used to install the propeller and the bolts were torqued to the recommended amount. The bolts were also safety wired. After its installation, the propeller was operationally tested. Prior to its removal, the propeller had been installed on the airplane for about 1 year with no operational or mechanical problems noted. The pilot did not have any other reported vibrations on flights leading up to the accident. Post accident examination by the responding airport personnel showed that the propeller and the attachment bolts were not on the propeller flange. Three of the bolt holes showed evidence of rubbing and partial elongation of the holes. The propeller and its attachment hardware were not recovered.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the in-flight separation of the propeller for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/14/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1217 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Redding |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96002 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 403032N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1121736W |
| 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 | 1137 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 350 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RDD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 502 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.97 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19760 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 14 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 30 2006 1:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-SAC-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N43PP |
| NTSB Number | LAX05LA270 |
| 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 | Prescott Aeronautical |
| Aircraft Model | Pusher |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 050 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 35 |
| Airframe Hours | 154 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Norris Hibbler |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Vancover |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98661 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | VUO |
| Departure City | Vancouver |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 920 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | WLW |
| Destination City | Willows Glen |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 22 2006 6:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| 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 | -- |