Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lodi, California 95242
Tuesady, June 12, 2007 10:50 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said that he was maneuvering at 2,000 feet above the ground when the right wing separated from the aircraft. He said that the aircraft was equipped with a Ballistic Recovery System (BRS) emergency parachute, which he immediately deployed. The pilot said that the fuselage and left wing came to rest in a grape vineyard, and he was able to walk away uninjured. Postaccident examination of the wreckage, by a fellow Challenger II pilot, revealed that the "rony bracket" that attached the forward lift strut to the fuselage failed. The bracket was not attached per the Challenger II building manual. The manufacturer's instructions state that the bolt should only be snug. It also warns to not over tighten these bolts holding the brackets to the hollow tubes and that there should be no more than two threads showing past the nut. The bolt on this rony bracket had at least five to six threads showing. Additionally, the end of the hollow tube was deformed into an oval shape, and not round. The remaining rony brackets did have only two threads showing and they could be rotated by hand, per the manufacturer's instructions.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The improper assembly of the rony bracket which attached the right wing forward lift strut to the fuselage, the subsequent failure of that bracket, and separation of the right wing from the aircraft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/12/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1050 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Lodi |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95242 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 381209N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1211606W |
| 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 | 1055 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 160 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SCK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 33 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.95 |
| 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 |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 22428 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 12 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 29 2007 8:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Oakland, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N204DC |
| NTSB Number | SEA07LA155 |
| 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 | Quad City Ultralight Aircraft |
| Aircraft Model | Challenger II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | CH2-0799-1894 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1000 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1291 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Terry L. Miller |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Lodi |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95242 |
| 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 | 1O3 |
| Departure City | Lodi |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1045 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 1O3 |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 2 2007 6:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |