Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Thomas C. Russell Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Alexander City, Alabama 35010
Wednesday, April 23, 2008 16:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he was conducting a personal flight with the owner of the airplane. The owner did not have any flight time in make and model. The airplane had a pre-buy inspection conducted two days before the accident and no anomalies were noted. The pilot conducted a preflight inspection before the flight and no anomalies were noted. The pilot and the owner departed on runway 36 and remained in a left closed traffic pattern. The pilot made a three-point landing in the first 1,000 feet of the runway, and was on the landing roll out, when the tailwheel started to shimmy. He applied forward pressure on the control stick and raised the tailwheel off the runway. The shimmy ceased and the pilot applied aft pressure on the control stick and lowered the tail wheel onto the runway. The airplane immediately veered to the right. The pilot applied left brake and rudder, but the airplane continued to the right off the right side of the runway and collided with a ditch. The right main landing gear separated and the right wing received structural damage. Examination of the airplane revealed the right spring on the tailwheel control had separated from the rudder and the tailwheel attachment. The tailwheel spring was located about 20 feet off the right side of the runway and there was no visible damage to the tailwheel spring or the upper and lower attachments points. The previous owner stated that he informed the new owner of the tendency for the tailwheel to shimmy during the three-point landings.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The separation of the right tail wheel spring on landing roll out for undetermined reasons, resulting in a loss of directional control and collision with a ditch.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/23/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1630 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Alexander City |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 35010 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 325453N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0855746W |
| Event Location Airport | Thomas C. Russell Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KALX |
| 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 | 686 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1655 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 212 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KMXF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 171 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 37 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.02 |
| 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) | 23657 |
| NTSB Notification Source | BHM FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 1 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 28 2008 12:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Birmingham FSDO-09 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1682G |
| NTSB Number | MIA08CA095 |
| 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 | Champion |
| Aircraft Model | 7KCAB |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 137 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1650 |
| 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 | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1209 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | David S. Kaiser |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 8885 Sartori Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Millington |
| Aircraft Owner State | TN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 38053 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | James V. Hamilton |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 8875 Highway 63 North |
| Operator City | Alexander City |
| Operator State | AL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 35010 |
| 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 | KALX |
| Departure City | Alexander City |
| Departure State | AL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1625 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KALX |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 19 2008 11:31AM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | 5425 |
| Runway Width | 96 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |