Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Reagan National Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Arlington, Virginia 22202
Tuesady, June 8, 2010 10:19 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, as he entered the flare to land at an airspeed of about 70 miles per hour, he planned to keep the airplane’s tail in the air and roll farther down the runway to allow more room for the following airplanes in his formation. He stated that, when the wheels touched the runway, he inadvertently applied the wheel brakes via the rudder pedals, which was evident by the skid marks found on the runway. (Pressing forward on the tops of the rudder pedals activates the main wheel brakes.) The pilot’s use of the brakes while touching down at high speed in this type of airplane, which has a high center of gravity and a tail wheel, caused it to flip over onto the top wing and the vertical stabilizer and rudder. Although the pilot had 875 total flight hours, including 190 hours in Stearman airplanes, he stated that he had seldom used the brakes in over 600 landings in the accident airplane. Therefore, the pilot was not familiar with the feel and effectiveness of the airplane’s wheel brakes.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s inadvertent use of the wheel brakes at high speed during the touchdown phase of the landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s lack of familiarity with the feel and effectiveness of the airplane’s wheel brakes.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/8/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1019 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Arlington |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 22202 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 385108N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0770216W |
| Event Location Airport | Reagan National |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DCA |
| 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 | 15 |
| 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 | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| 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) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | NTSB Communications Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 24 2010 1:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | schd |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N27WE |
| NTSB Number | DCA10FA066 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BOEING |
| Aircraft Model | B75N1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 75-6651 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2950 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | 0 |
| Passenger Seats | 1 |
| 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 | Apr 1 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2388 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TRUSCHEL MICHAEL A |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 10206 OXFORDSHIRE DR |
| Aircraft Owner City | NOKESVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 20181-1609 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | TRUSCHEL MICHAEL A |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 10206 OXFORDSHIRE DR |
| Operator City | NOKESVILLE |
| Operator State | VA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 20181-1609 |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | HEF |
| Departure City | Manassas |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 945 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | DCA |
| Destination City | Arlington |
| Destination State | VA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 12 2010 8:52AM |
| User who most recently changed record | benr |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 01 |
| Runway Length | 6869 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |