Brown Field Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

San Diego, California 91773
Saturday, March 3, 2007 11:00 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The conventional gear airplane bounced two times after touchdown and nosed over. On the first bounce, the pilot added a small amount of power to allow the airplane to settle back onto the runway. However, the airplane bounced again, and he added full power in an attempt to go around and pushed forward on the control stick. The propeller then contacted the runway and the airplane nosed over. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions during the flight.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper bounced landing recovery and improper use of the flight controls that resulted in a porpoise and a nose over.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/3/2007
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1100
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City San Diego
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 91773
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 323400N
Event Location Longitude 1165800W
Event Location Airport BROWN FIELD MUNI
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SDM
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 525
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1053 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID SDM
Elevation of weather observation facility 526
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
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) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 60
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.2
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 2
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 21480
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Mar 3 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 29 2007 12:24PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA AWP San Diego

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N78DH
NTSB Number LAX07CA100
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 Hirsch
Aircraft Model Thorp T-18
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 125
Certified Max Gross Weight 1950
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 Mar 1 2006 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 6
Airframe Hours 1778.4
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Roger L. Sokoloff
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City --
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country --
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City San Diego
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 92130
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code SDM
Departure City San Diego
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1000
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City San Diego
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 3 2007 3:04PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 8L
Runway Length 7972
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --