Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Rockledge Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rockledge, Florida 32955
Saturday, December 1, 2007 12:54 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Following maintenance to the amateur-built airplane, including the manufacture and installation of shoulder harness cables and a condition inspection, the airplane was test flown by the facility general manager on two separate flights lasting a total of one hour. The only discrepancies reported by the general manager related to the airplane's brakes and noise in the headset. While the pilot has no independent recollection of the accident flight, a pilot-rated witness who was outside on the airport reported that his attention was drawn to the accident airplane when he heard a normal sounding engine run-up being performed. He watched the airplane take off, becoming airborne at the midpoint of the runway. The initial takeoff climb appeared normal, then approximately 1.5 seconds later, at an estimated 75 feet above ground level (agl), the left wing dropped or "bobbled." The airplane rolled to the right, then climbed to 100 to 150 feet agl. The right wing raised, the nose pitched up 15 degrees, which was more than a normal pitch attitude, and then the airplane "shuddered" and stalled to the left. The airplane impacted terrain in a left-wing-low attitude. During the impact sequence, the pilot's shoulder harness cable failed prematurely due to improper manufacturing, contributing to his serious head injuries. No evidence of preimpact failure or malfunction was identified for either the flight controls or engine.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot to maintain airspeed during climbout, resulting in an aerodynamic stall and uncontrolled descent. Contributing to the severity of the pilot's injuries was the inadequate manufacture of the shoulder harness restraint cables.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/1/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1254 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Rockledge |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32955 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 281802N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0804317W |
| Event Location Airport | Rockledge Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 21FA |
| 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 | 27 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1255 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 130 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | COF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 8 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2700 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 40 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.22 |
| 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) | 25002 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern Region C-ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 1 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 4 2009 1:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | muzd |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Orlando, Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N79GP |
| NTSB Number | MIA08LA023 |
| 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 | PORTER GLEN |
| Aircraft Model | AVENTURA II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | AP2A0079 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1150 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 29 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 142.2 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CLARK THOMAS P |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | BYRON |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 31008-6156 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | CLARK THOMAS P |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | BYRON |
| Operator State | GA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 31008-6156 |
| 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 | 21FA |
| Departure City | Rockledge |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1254 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 21FA |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 4 2009 1:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | muzd |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | 2010 |
| Runway Width | 45 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |