Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Palm Springs Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Palm Springs, California 92262
Saturday, February 28, 2009 16:10 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped experimental airplane had just touched down for a full-stop landing when the airplane started veering to the left. Although the pilot applied rudder and brake inputs to correct the airplane's alignment, the airplane did not respond. The pilot then added power to help correct the veering, but the airplane departed the left side of the runway and impacted a runway/taxiway sign. A postaccident inspection of the tubular steel left gear leg revealed that it had partially failed along a corroded weld line, and had bent backwards from its normal position. Corrosion/rust was present on about one inch of the fracture face, and along a wider area of the interior wall of the gear leg adjacent to the fracture. The fracture itself continued around about 70 percent of the circumference of the tubular leg.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of directional control due to the fatigue failure of a tubular steel gear leg along a corroded weld line.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/28/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1610 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Palm Springs |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92262 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 334900N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1163040W |
| Event Location Airport | Palm Springs Intl |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PSP |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 477 |
| 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 | PSP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 477 |
| 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) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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) | 25337 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 6 2009 12:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N118CK |
| NTSB Number | WPR09CA134 |
| 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 | Kreps |
| Aircraft Model | Thorp T-18-C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | T-18-C |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1275 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1500 |
| 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 | Oct 1 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 996 |
| Airframe Hours | 996 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Glavans Rev Trust |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Palm Desert |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92260 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | George L. Avans |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Palm Desert |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 92260 |
| 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 | SBA |
| Departure City | Santa Barbara |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PSP |
| Destination City | Palm Springs |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 6 2009 12:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 13L |
| Runway Length | 4952 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |