Reno Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Reno, Nevada 89502
Tuesady, June 19, 2007 11:20 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane ground looped during the landing roll, and sustained damage to the lower right wing. The pilot departed for a 15-minute sightseeing ride with one passenger. Upon landing on runway 34R, he did a wheel landing at 45 mph, and then lowered the tail wheel at 5 mph. The airplane violently veered left. He applied full right rudder, but the airplane did not respond. He realized that the airplane was out of control, and applied both brakes to stop the airplane's rotation. The airplane ended up 270 degrees to the runway heading. The pilot stated that the airplane and engine had no mechanical failures or malfunctions during the flight.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/19/2007
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1120
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Reno
Event State NEVADA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 89502
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 392995N
Event Location Longitude 1194608W
Event Location Airport Reno
Event Location Nearest Airport ID KRNO
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 4415
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1056 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KRNO
Elevation of weather observation facility 4415
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 25000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
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) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 0
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.05
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) 21905
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jun 19 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 25 2007 12:22PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Federal Aviation Administration Reno FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N32035
NTSB Number LAX07CA192
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 Waco
Aircraft Model UPF-7
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 5666
Certified Max Gross Weight 2650
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 3
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
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 Randel R. McLain
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Reno
Aircraft Owner State NV
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 89513
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Sierra Biplane Adventures LLC
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Reno
Operator State NV
Operator Country USA
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) Other Work Use
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code RNO
Departure City Reno
Departure State NV
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1100
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code RNO
Destination City Reno
Destination State NV
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 16 2007 2:58PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 34R
Runway Length 9000
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight Yes
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --