Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Leamington, Utah 84638
Monday, September 4, 2006 14:00 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Witnesses observed the airplane flying low to the west. It started a left turn and continued until it nosed down to the ground. The witnesses heard a loud engine sound all the way until impact. A friend of the pilot examined the aircraft and found the inboard bolt on the left elevator bow was missing, and the outboard bolt was failed in a sheared/twisting mode. The reason that the bolt was missing was undetermined.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's loss of aircraft control (control not possible) due to the failure of the left elevator control surface which was the result of a missing inboard bolt (for undetermined reason) which holds the left elevator bow in place.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/4/2006
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Leamington
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 84638
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 393219N
Event Location Longitude 1121819W
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 1215 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 20
Weather Observation Facility ID PVU
Elevation of weather observation facility 4497
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 50
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
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) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 280
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) 30.17
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) 21153
NTSB Notification Source FAA NW ROC
NTSB Notification Date Sep 4 2006 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Mar 26 2007 9:33AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Salt Lake City, UT

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N339JL
NTSB Number SEA06LA175
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Straw
Aircraft Model T-Bird II
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17804
Certified Max Gross Weight 1200
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 Conditional
Date of Last Inspection Aug 1 2006 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Jeffrey P. Straw
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Pleasant Grove
Aircraft Owner State UT
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 84062
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 DTA
Departure City Delta
Departure State UT
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code DTA
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 31 2007 4:54PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --