Crossville Memorial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Crossville, Tennessee 38555
Saturday, September 9, 2006 8:05 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot he was departing from runway 26. The pilot stated that at 50 to 60 feet above ground level, the bi-plane did not seem to perform as usual, "although the engine seemed to be putting out its normal amount of power." At this time the airplane "began a rapid roll to the left." The pilot countered the roll but was not able to roll back upright. He elected to perform a forced landing to the grass to the left of the runway environment. The airplane came to rest 15 feet off the runway surface, on its right side, resulting in substantial damage. An examination of the airplane's systems, conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration, revealed the left rudder cable and spring had separated from the rudder control surface. It was not established if this separation took place during the impact or prior to the accident. An examination of the remaining airplane systems revealed no anomalies.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A loss of control in flight due to a disconnected rudder control cable. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's inability to control the roll.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/9/2006
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 805
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Crossville
Event State TENNESSEE
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 38555
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 355706N
Event Location Longitude 0850506W
Event Location Airport Crossville Memorial Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID CSV
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 1881
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 853 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 180
Weather Observation Facility ID KCSV
Elevation of weather observation facility 1881
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 10000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 4
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 18
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 130
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) 30.16
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) 20727
NTSB Notification Source FAA-Southern Region
NTSB Notification Date Sep 9 2006 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 28 2006 9:08AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Nashville FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5309
NTSB Number DEN06CA123
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 Parsons
Aircraft Model JN4-D Jenny Replica
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 001
Certified Max Gross Weight 950
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 1 2006 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 6
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name On File
Aircraft Owner Street Address On File
Aircraft Owner City Crossville
Aircraft Owner State TN
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 38555
Operator is an individual? Yes
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 CSV
Departure City Crossville
Departure State TN
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 905
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code CSV
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 10 2006 2:58PM
User who most recently changed record BOWL
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 26
Runway Length 5418
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --