Greeley-Weld County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Greeley, Colorado 80631
Tuesady, February 23, 2010 15:00 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was practicing steep turns around a point at 7,500 feet mean sea level. During one of the turns, he heard an unusual sound and saw something falling away from the aircraft. He then noticed a piece of fabric “flapping” in the slipstream at the trailing edge of the right aileron. The airplane developed a slight sink rate, but the engine and flight controls operated normally. He returned to the airport and made an uneventful landing. Postflight inspection disclosed that nearly 80 percent of the fabric on the top of the right wing had separated, and several ribs were damaged when the rivets separated with the fabric. Several other ribs were distorted from slipstream. The airplane had been used for spotting fish in Alaska. According to the maintenance records, the airframe was last recovered on July 21, 2003, at a total time of 3,894.0 hours. Fabric punch tests since the recovering had been satisfactory.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

An in-flight failure of the wing fabric for undetermined reasons.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/23/2010
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1500
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Greeley
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80631
Event Date Year 2010
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 402509N
Event Location Longitude 1043800W
Event Location Airport Greeley-Weld County
Event Location Nearest Airport ID GXY
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 4697
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1535 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID GXY
Elevation of weather observation facility 4697
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
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) 3
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 190
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.05
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report KGXY 232035Z AUTO 11003KT 10SM CLR 01/M08 A3005 RM
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 26915
NTSB Notification Source FAA ANC
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record May 10 2010 10:19AM
User who most recently changed record bowl
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5065X
NTSB Number CEN10LA198
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 American Champion
Aircraft Model 7KCAB
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 147
Certified Max Gross Weight 1650
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats 2
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 Feb 6 2009 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 63
Airframe Hours 4017
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Charles P. Riesselmann
Aircraft Owner Street Address 6321 W. 21st St.
Aircraft Owner City Greeley
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80634-7918
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Charles P. Riesselmann
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address 6321 W. 21st St.
Operator City Greeley
Operator State CO
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 80634-7918
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 GXY
Departure City Greeley
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1430
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code GXY
Destination City Greeley
Destination State CO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 3 2010 4:10PM
User who most recently changed record scoa
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --