Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
La Porte Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
La Porte, Texas 77571
Wednesday, October 5, 2005 13:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The private pilot had recently built the tailwheel-equipped experimental airplane and had accrued approximately 20 hours (all flight instruction) in the airplane. A commercial pilot accompanied the pilot on the flight. During takeoff from Runway 12 (4,165-foot long by 75-foot wide asphalt runway), the airplane became airborne briefly and then settled back on to the runway, followed by a couple of hard bounces. Following the second bounce, the left main landing gear wheel separated and the airplane ground-looped. The airplane then rolled to the right, exited the runway, and nosed over. The pilot reported a total of 70 flight hours, but had not flown since 1951. A review of FAA records revealed that the commercial rated pilot held a flight instructor rating; however, it had expired in 2004. Examination of the airplane revealed no pre-mishap discrepancies. The winds at the time of the mishap were reported from 100 degrees at 7 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to obtain/maintain adequate airspeed on takeoff, which resulted in two hard landings and subsequent loss of control.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/5/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | La Porte |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77571 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 294015N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0950351W |
| Event Location Airport | La Porte Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | T41 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 25 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1350 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 233 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EFD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 32 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.92 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18977 |
| NTSB Notification Source | HOU FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 5 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 | Houston, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N40120 |
| NTSB Number | DFW06CA003 |
| 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 | Harms |
| Aircraft Model | KitFox Series 5 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | S9909-0215 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1550 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 20 |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robert Harms |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5235 Cripple Creek Ct. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Houston |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77017 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Robert Harms |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 5235 Cripple Creek Ct. |
| Operator City | Houston |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 77017 |
| 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 | T41 |
| Departure City | La Porte |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | T41 |
| Destination City | La Porte |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - roll/run |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 7 2005 10:19AM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 12 |
| Runway Length | 4165 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |