Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Page Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fort Myers, Florida 33901
Sunday, August 15, 2010 21:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, during a previous flight he discovered that the elevator trim adjustment wheel was binding when it set to the full airplane nose-up position. He planned to have the airplane inspected by a mechanic at the conclusion of that flight, but upon arriving at the destination, all of the facilities were closed for the evening. He subsequently departed for the return flight after picking up passengers, and as he began to trim the airplane for the landing flare, the airplane pitched up uncontrollably. As the pilot attempted to recover the airplane, the left wing struck the ground, resulting in substantial damage. An examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the trim wheel was binding on the instrument panel when the trim was set to a nose-up position. When the trim wheel was removed from the trim system, the remainder of the mechanism was free to move in both the up and down directions.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The binding of the trim wheel on the instrument panel and the pilot’s improper decision to depart with a known mechanical deficiency.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/15/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2100 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Fort Myers |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33901 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 263507N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0815128W |
| Event Location Airport | Page Field Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FMY |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 17 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2053 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FMY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 17 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27565 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Southern 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 4 2010 10:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coxp |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5382K |
| NTSB Number | ERA10CA425 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | RYAN |
| Aircraft Model | NAVION B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | NAV-4-2282B |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 10 2010 12:00AM |
| 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 | LOTRIDGE DARREL G |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2975 AUBURN RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | AUBURN HILLS |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 48326-3211 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | LOTRIDGE DARREL G |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | AUBURN HILLS |
| Operator State | MI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 48326-3211 |
| 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 | MTH |
| Departure City | Marathon |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2000 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | FMY |
| Destination City | Fort Myers |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 20 2010 12:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | moah-i |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 31 |
| Runway Length | 4912 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |