Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lava Hot Springs Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lava Hot Spring, Idaho 83246
Friday, September 14, 2007 10:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot had been recently certified as a light sport airplane instructor and wanted to become more proficient with crosswind landings from the right seat. The first takeoff and landing were normal. On the second landing, the pilot noted a moderate, variable crosswind, along with turbulent conditions. He maintained an airspeed of about 5 knots faster for taking off and landing. The pilot stated that as he flared for landing, the airplane floated down the runway as a result of "ground level turbulence." The nose unexpectedly dropped and struck the ground. The nose landing gear collapsed and the airplane nosed over, which caused structural damage to the fuselage. The pilot further reported that he had trimmed the airplane with a "significant nose-high attitude." However, based on manufacturer's illustration of the positions of the pivot plate and hinge point, the airplane had in fact been trimmed to a full nose-down position. A Safety Board metallurgist examined the elevator trim aft control rod and reported that the downward bending deformation at the fracture location was consistent with an overstress fracture under compression loading and no mechanical or design anomalies were noted.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Failure of the pilot to maintain aircraft control during landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/14/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Lava Hot Spring |
| Event State | IDAHO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 83246 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 423630N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1120154W |
| Event Location Airport | Lava Hot Springs Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 00E |
| 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 | 5268 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1042 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 83 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | U78 |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5839 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 23 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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) | 24633 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 14 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 19 2008 5:47PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Salt Lake City FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N769R |
| NTSB Number | LAX07LA278 |
| 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 | Skykits |
| Aircraft Model | Savannah ADV |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 06-07-51-509 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1234 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 63 |
| Airframe Hours | 63 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Reed I. White |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Lava Hot Springs |
| Aircraft Owner State | ID |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 83246 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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 | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | 00E |
| Departure City | Lava Hot Spring |
| Departure State | ID |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1012 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 00E |
| Destination City | Lava Hot Spring |
| Destination State | ID |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 19 2008 5:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 2894 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |