Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Stanchester Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lithia, Florida 33547
Sunday, December 24, 2006 13:25 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated the accident flight departed KPCM at about 12:30 local time. After about an hour of local flight, which included several landings and take-offs from a local grass strip (Blackwater Creek), we flew to my private airstrip, OFL6. We made a normal STOL approach at 50 mph and with 2 notches of flap. There was a slight quartering tail wind from the right. We made a reasonably firm arrival on the main gear as usual. The nose dropped as expected, but then continued to drop so that the propeller impacted the ground. There was no sensation of the nose gear touching the ground and then failing; the nose simply dropped through the normal landing attitude as if the nose gear were not there. After the propeller contacted the ground, the aircraft very slowly nosed over and came to rest on its back. I undid the 4 point harness and exited through the left door, and went around to the other side to help the passenger out. There were no injuries. Post-accident examination of the wreckage revealed that the nose wheel (which is directly linked to the rudder pedals for ground steering) was about 45 degrees to the left. The forks which hold the nose wheel were deformed in a way that suggest that the nose wheel contacted the ground while turned to the left. It Is possible that if the nose wheel had been straight when it contacted the ground, then the nose gear would not have been subjected to such high rearward loads, and might not have collapsed.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Collapse of the nosegear for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/24/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1325 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Lithia |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33547 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 274820N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0820825W |
| Event Location Airport | Stanchester |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 0FL6 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 94 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1130 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 358 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KPCM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 154 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.85 |
| 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) | 21216 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Pilot |
| 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 | N817DJ |
| NTSB Number | MIA07CA030 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Morgan, Marvin R. |
| Aircraft Model | Zenair CH701 STOL |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7-9244 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1100 |
| 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 | Nov 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 114 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Sebastion J. Dewhurst |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2411 Valrico Forest Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Valrico |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33594 |
| 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 | KPCM |
| Departure City | Plant City |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1230 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Lithia |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 6 2007 12:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 33 |
| Runway Length | 500 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |