Centennial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Denver, Colorado 80112
Friday, August 20, 2010 10:40 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that the tailwheel on her single-engine airplane had just undergone maintenance to alleviate a shimmy and was told to practice some touch-and-go landings to see if the problem had been alleviated. The pilot did several landings and said the shimmy had improved but was not completely gone. However, on the sixth landing, the pilot landed on the tailwheel, which resulted in an "extreme and violent" shimmy. The airplane veered to the right and the pilot tried to correct for it by applying pressure to just one brake. The airplane continued to veer off the runway, so the pilot applied both brakes and the airplane flipped over, resulting in substantial damage to the right wing strut and rudder. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical problems and that the accident could have been prevented if she kept the airplane on the runway.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane during landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/20/2010
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1040
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Denver
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80112
Event Date Year 2010
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 393407N
Event Location Longitude 1045034W
Event Location Airport Centennial
Event Location Nearest Airport ID APA
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 --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Unknown
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) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator --
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 27496
NTSB Notification Source NWR ROC
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 23 2010 2:25PM
User who most recently changed record bowl
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N755K
NTSB Number CEN10CA488
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Unknown
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name TUBBS S/PERFORMANCE AIR INC
Aircraft Model PA18-225
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number PA 0105
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Echo Valley Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Conifer
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 83687-8114
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Rinah Levine
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Confier
Operator State CO
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code --
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code APA
Departure City Denver
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code APA
Destination City Denver
Destination State CO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 17 2010 10:51AM
User who most recently changed record yeal
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 17R
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --