Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
El Dorado Hills, California 95762
Friday, April 17, 2009 17:10 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Witnesses monitoring the accident flight's departure airport common traffic advisory frequency reported that they heard a mayday radio transmission stating that "I've lost elevator control" and "I'm going down in some trees." Witnesses adjacent to the accident site reported hearing a loud whining noise followed by the sound of something impacting trees. One witness stated that the airplane was at a low altitude in an upright attitude when it struck trees. The airplane subsequently impacted terrain and came to rest near a residential structure where a post-crash fire consumed most of the fuselage. Post-accident examination of the wreckage revealed that the elevator torque tube was disconnected from the forward rod end bearing. The forward rod end bearing remained attached to the elevator bell crank assembly. No damage was observed on the forward torque tube rod end threads or forward rod end bearing threads. The forward torque tube rod end jam nut was observed threaded about one-half inch from the threaded rod end. The aft torque tube jam nut and torque tube rod end was observed against the aft rod end bearing. The aft torque tube rod end was slightly bent and did not allow movement. No evidence of "torque seal" was observed on the forward or aft jam nuts, rod end bearings, or torque tube assembly. No additional mechanical anomalies were noted with the recovered airframe.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The in-flight separation of the elevator control torque tube rod end bearing from the elevator torque tube as a result of incorrectly tightened rod end bearing lock nuts.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/17/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1710 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | El Dorado HIlls |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95762 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 384000N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1210300W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| 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 | 1753 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 200 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SAC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 24 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| 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) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.09 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26474 |
| 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 | Dec 24 2009 2:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N209TP |
| NTSB Number | WPR09LA202 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ALEXANDER THOMAS P |
| Aircraft Model | SPORTSMAN GS-2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7297 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2350 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ALEXANDER THOMAS P |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95693-9626 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | ALEXANDER THOMAS P |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | WILTON |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 95693-9626 |
| 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 | RIU |
| Departure City | Rancho Marieta |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1618 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 24 2009 2:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |