Point Roberts Airpark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Point Roberts, Washington 98281
Friday, December 1, 2006 14:15 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot, during the takeoff roll at about rotation speed, he felt the nose landing gear of the airplane "give way" and the airplane began to drift to the left. As he applied right rudder to correct the yaw, he felt "a continued collapse" of the nose landing gear and elected to abort the takeoff. The airplane's nose and both propellers struck the ground. Examination of photos provided by an insurance adjustor revealed that both engines were displaced down and to the right. The right engine firewall was torn from the engine nacelle, and the left engine firewall was buckled and distorted. Additionally, the photos revealed that the nose landing gear fork had broken into two pieces, which allowed the nose wheel to separate from the airplane, resulting in collapse of the nose landing gear. The pilot reported that "an aircraft structural engineer made the observation that my nose gear fork had an old hidden crack that could have contributed to the failure."

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pre-existing crack in the nose wheel fork, which allowed separation of the nose wheel during the takeoff roll, resulting in collapse of the nose landing gear.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/1/2006
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1415
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Point Roberts
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98281
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 485847N
Event Location Longitude 1230444W
Event Location Airport Point Roberts Airpark
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 1RL
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 --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) --
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency --
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 21188
NTSB Notification Source Insurance Adjustor
NTSB Notification Date --
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 --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N119N
NTSB Number SEA07CA032
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Riley
Aircraft Model D-16A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number TTN-51
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft --
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed --
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Jesse H. Lofquist
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Point Roberts
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code 1RL
Departure City Point Roberts
Departure State WA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code 1RL
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 19 2007 1:07PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 16
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --