Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Hartness State Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Springfield, Vermont 05156
Saturday, June 16, 2007 11:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The non-certificated pilot was a co-owner of the aircraft kit manufacturing company, involving the accident airplane. On the day of the accident, the pilot planned to test an alternate wing design, which was to be sold in an aircraft kit to a new customer. The pilot did not have a fuselage available to test the wing, so he asked the owner of the accident airplane to fly to the airport, and assist him with testing the alternate wing. The owner of the airplane agreed, flew to the airport, and assisted the accident pilot in securing the alternate wing to the fuselage of his airplane. The pilot then departed from the airport, and shortly after takeoff, witnesses observed the airplane nose over and impact a lake. The pilot was unable to release his seatbelt, as he was not familiar with this type of fuselage, and was pulled from the airplane by a witness, prior to it sinking in the lake. Examination of the airplane revealed the wing was "defective," and not compatible with the fuselage.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The non-certificated pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control, due to the installation of an alternate wing design.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/16/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1100 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Springfield |
| Event State | VERMONT |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 05156 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 432033N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0723034W |
| Event Location Airport | Hartness State Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | VSF |
| 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 | 577 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1054 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VSF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 577 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23773 |
| NTSB Notification Source | NEROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 16 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2008 11:48AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | PWM FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N425DW |
| NTSB Number | NYC07LA143 |
| 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 | Northwing Design |
| Aircraft Model | Apache Quest |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 63155 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 990 |
| 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 | Aug 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 172 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Dennis Dobe |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Contoocook |
| Aircraft Owner State | NH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 03229 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Jeff Nicolay |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Claremont |
| Operator State | NH |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 03743 |
| 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) | Flight Test |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | VSF |
| Departure City | Springfield |
| Departure State | VT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1050 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 5 2008 1:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| 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 | -- |