Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lincoln Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lincoln, California 95648
Wednesday, August 4, 2010 12:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The single-seat aircraft was registered with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as an experimental, amateur-built aircraft. A week before the accident, the aircraft was assembled by a certificated aircraft mechanic. The pilot reported that he had previously flown the aircraft one time, for about 30 minutes. During the accident flight's takeoff roll, the pilot noticed that the aircraft did not "feel right," but he opted to continue. About 250 feet above the ground the outboard right wing "started to flutter in a violent way" and in response the pilot reduced engine power and aircraft speed. He then "lost all control." The aircraft impacted the ground in a field and seriously injured the pilot. About an hour after the accident skydivers noticed the wreckage and summoned emergency services to rescue the pilot. Examination of the wreckage by an FAA inspector revealed that the bolt that was supposed to attach an aileron pushrod to the outboard aileron bellcrank was lying loose in the bottom of the wing bay; neither the nut nor the cotter pin was recovered. Examination of the opposite aileron bellcrank revealed that the corresponding bolt and nut were not secured by a cotter pin, despite provisions for one. The mechanic who assembled the aircraft stated that he did not install cotter pins in either of the two noted bolts. The pilot stated that he did not inspect the aircraft after assembly or before the flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of control due to the mechanical disconnection of an aileron pushrod from its bellcrank as a result of the mechanic's failure to properly secure the pushrod attach hardware. Also causal was the pilot's inadequate preflight inspection.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/4/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1230 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Lincoln |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95648 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 385450N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1211738W |
| Event Location Airport | Lincoln Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LHM |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 121 |
| 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 | 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) | -- |
| 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 | 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27540 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA FSDO Sacramento, CA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 27 2010 5:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N84BS |
| NTSB Number | WPR10CA398 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Kirkpatrick |
| Aircraft Model | Buzzard |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 1 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 001 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 600 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 15 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0 |
| Airframe Hours | 0 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John Sanders |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Placerville |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95667 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | John Sanders |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Placerville |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 95667 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | LHM |
| Departure City | Lincoln |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1230 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | LHM |
| Destination City | Lincoln |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 27 2010 5:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 15 |
| Runway Length | 6001 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |