Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Elmendorf Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Elmendorf, Texas 78112
Friday, December 21, 2007 16:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The private pilot landed his single-engine tricycle gear homebuilt airplane at a private 2,600-foot long by 200-foot wide grass airstrip. The pilot reported that on approach the airplane had about a 25-degrees of flap setting; he then "slowed [the airplane] to 80 knots on final [and crossed] over the fence at 70-75 knots." The pilot added, he made a normal landing and held the aircraft's nosewheel off the surface of the runway, until the airspeed bled off. About halfway down the runway, he stated that the airplane's nose suddenly lifted to about a 25-30 degree angle and when the nose came back down, he felt a "shutter". After the nosewheel came in contact with the runway surface, the aircraft tipped forward and while at a very slow speed, flipped over. The aircraft came to rest in the inverted position. The pilot inspected the runway and reported that about 66-feet from the aircraft, it appeared the nosewheel contacted the side of a "gopher mound" which caused the aircraft's nose to elevate. About 36-feet from the mound, and about 6-feet from where the nosewheel contacted the surface, the nosewheel track showed signs of widening. The wheel track got progressively wider and deeper until the point where the aircraft overturns. The aircraft had not been modified with the kit manufacturer's service bulletin, which increased the nose fork axle-to-ground clearance; the pilot added that he didn't think the added clearance would have helped prevent the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the nose landing gear. A contributing factor was the mound/uneven runway surface.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/21/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1630 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | ELmendorf |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78112 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 291606N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0982006W |
| Event Location Airport | Elmendorf |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 28TE |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.81 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23036 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 21 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 28 2008 3:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA San Antonio |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N131RV |
| NTSB Number | DFW08CA048 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Portman |
| Aircraft Model | RV-7A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 70327 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1900 |
| 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 | Mar 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 290 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Joseph L Portman |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5595 Labus Rd Road Lot 2 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Elmendorf |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78112 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | EYQ |
| Departure City | HOUSTON |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 28TE |
| Destination City | Elmendorf |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 4 2008 4:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | DINC |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17 |
| Runway Length | 2600 |
| Runway Width | 200 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |