Rock Creek Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Pueblo, Colorado 81005
Saturday, June 28, 2008 15:30 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that while landing his tailwheel-equipped airplane to runway 25 a strong quartering tailwind caused the airplane to swerve to the left. In an attempt to arrest the swerve, the pilot applied full right rudder and right brake. As the airplane responded back to the right, the left wing impacted a fence post. Subsequently, the airplane nosed over and came to rest in an inverted position. The airplane's wing strut was bent during the mishap. Approximately 23 minutes after the accident, a weather reporting station located 17 miles northeast of the accident site, reported winds from 70 degrees at 16 knots gusting to 24 knots. The pilot did not report any pre-impact mechanical malfunction or failure with the airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing. Contributing to the accident were the wind gust and tailwind.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/28/2008
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1530
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Pueblo
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 81005
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 380807N
Event Location Longitude 1044832W
Event Location Airport Rock Creek Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 99CO
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 Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1553 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 50
Weather Observation Facility ID PUB
Elevation of weather observation facility 4726
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 17
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 7000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 10
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 70
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 16
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 24
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.25
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) 24244
NTSB Notification Source Pilot
NTSB Notification Date Jun 28 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 26 2008 6:40PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Denver, Colorado

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2879T
NTSB Number DFW08CA175
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 Christen Industries
Aircraft Model A-1
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 1009
Certified Max Gross Weight 1800
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 Apr 1 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 6276
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name James G Wark
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Pueblo
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 81001
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name John C Wark
Operator Same as Owner? No
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 PUB
Departure City PUEBLO
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1400
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code 99CO
Destination City Pueblo
Destination State CO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 5 2008 1:05PM
User who most recently changed record GAMW
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 25
Runway Length 1500
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --