Truckee-Tahoe Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Truckee, California 96161
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 17:10 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot made a normal landing but the airplane veered off the runway when the tail wheel made contact with the pavement. The airplane ground looped, sustaining damage to the left wing tip. The pilot said that rudder control inputs he made were ineffective in controlling the airplane. During a post-accident examination of the airplane, the pilot discovered that the bolts which attach the tail wheel assembly to the tail spring were sheared.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the bolts securing the tail wheel to its attach point that resulted in a loss of directional control.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/10/2008
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1710
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Truckee
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 96161
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 391907N
Event Location Longitude 1200813W
Event Location Airport Truckee-Tahoe Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID TRK
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 5900
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1701 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KTRK
Elevation of weather observation facility 5900
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
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) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 10
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.23
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) 24525
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Sep 10 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 22 2009 8:19AM
User who most recently changed record grol
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA- FSDO- Reno

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N954CB
NTSB Number LAX08CA293
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 Brubaker
Aircraft Model F1
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 116
Certified Max Gross Weight 2000
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 Jan 26 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 7
Airframe Hours 112
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type C91
Aircraft Owner Name Calvin M. Brubaker
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Salt Lake City
Aircraft Owner State UT
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 84117
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name Calvin M. Brubaker
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Salt Lake City
Operator State UT
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 84117
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 No
Departure Airport Code BTF
Departure City Bountiful
Departure State UT
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1530
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code TRK
Destination City Truckee
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 21 2008 4:10PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 10
Runway Length 7000
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --