Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Franklinton Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Franklinton, Louisiana 70438
Wednesday, May 13, 2009 7:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On the second takeoff of the day, the weight-shift trike reached an estimated speed of 40 knots before the pilot pushed the flight control bar forward. The trike rotated, departed the runway, and climbed steeply to an altitude of around 100 feet. The passenger, a pilot with approximately 150 hours in a similar model trike, noted that the pilot did not return the control bar to the neutral position and the trike stalled. The passenger attempted to take control, but moments later the trike impacted the ground and came to rest in an inverted position on an adjacent golf course. The accident pilot was estimated to have purchased the trike three to four months previously and to have logged approximately 5 hours in type. Due to the extent of his injuries, the pilot was not able to be interviewed nor was he able to submit a NTSB accident form 6120.1. No record of an airman certificate was located for the pilot during the investigation. The passenger reported that he did not observe any mechanical anomalies with the trike before or during the attempted flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed which resulted in a stall. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of flight experience in the weight-shift trike.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/13/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 730 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Franklinton |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 70438 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 304910N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0900645W |
| Event Location Airport | Franklinton Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 2R7 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 175 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 739 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HDC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 47 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 24 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2400 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | 131239Z AUTO 16003KT 10SM SCT024 SCT030 26/24 A300 |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26013 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 28 2009 10:15AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N61740 |
| NTSB Number | CEN09LA299 |
| 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 | NORTHWING |
| Aircraft Model | APACHE SPORT |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28142 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | -- |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HUGHES ANTHONY F |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 1 |
| Aircraft Owner City | TAFT |
| Aircraft Owner State | TN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 38488-0001 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Bradley Busby |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Bogalusa |
| Operator State | LA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 70427 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 2R7 |
| Departure City | Franklinton |
| Departure State | LA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 730 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 2R7 |
| Destination City | Franklinton |
| Destination State | LA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 13 2009 1:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | lebt |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 13 |
| Runway Length | 3000 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |