Roche Harbor Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Roche Harbor, Washington 98250
Thursday, June 14, 2007 18:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot said he was landing on runway 07 with a 5-knot right crosswind. He said that shortly after touchdown, the aircraft started a slight drift to the right. The pilot said he applied left rudder to compensate and felt a "thunk" as the left rudder pedal locked forward, over center, underneath the brake pedal, which prevented the use of the left brake. The aircraft briefly lurched to the left. He applied hard right rudder, but with no apparent effect. He next applied right brake and intentionally ground looped the aircraft to prevent going down an embankment on the south side of the runway. The airplane's left main landing gear collapsed, followed by the left wing, left aileron, and forward fuselage being wrinkled and bent. The pilot said that the rudder/brake pedal assembly has only one master cylinder for the braking system and it is located on the right hand side. He said there is a mechanical linkage from the right to the left, which is prone to jamming in certain rudder pedal deflections. He said that other pilot's have reported this problem with their amateur-built airplanes manufactured from the same kit.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The jamming of the left brake during landing. A factor was the kit manufacturer's design of the brake system.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/14/2007
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1800
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Roche Harbor
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98250
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 483673N
Event Location Longitude 1230832W
Event Location Airport Roche Harbor Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID WA09
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 100
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
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) 17
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 130
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) 30.14
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 3
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency --
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 22086
NTSB Notification Source FAA ROC
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Aug 30 2007 12:18PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N623AM
NTSB Number SEA07CA159
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 Nelson
Aircraft Model Murphy SR3500 Moose
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number SR123
Certified Max Gross Weight 4000
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 --
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 Miguel E. Nelson
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Lake Stevens
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
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 74S
Departure City Anacortes
Departure State WA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code WA09
Destination City Roche Harbor
Destination State WA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 23 2007 7:43PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 07
Runway Length 3593
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --