Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
W K Kellogg Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Battle Creek, Michigan 49015
Saturday, July 2, 2011 20:40 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The entire left aileron separated from the airplane as the pilot was performing an aerobatic aileron-roll maneuver during an airshow aerobatic demonstration flight. The pilot was able to recover into level flight and make an uneventful landing. The pilot stated that his preflight inspection before the accident flight did not reveal any mechanical issues with the airplane, including loose jam nuts or any other aileron anomalies. However, the pilot reported that his aviation mechanic had to retighten the jam nut for the center aileron hinge rod-end after it had been found loose on several occasions before the accident flight.
A postaccident examination revealed that the center aileron hinge had failed in the shank region of the rod end due to reverse bending fatigue. No material issues were identified with the center aileron rod end, which met the part specifications. A design analysis confirmed that the aileron rod ends were adequate for the limit loads on the structure but were inadequate for fatigue tolerance. The stress levels in the rod end shank were at or above the endurance limit for the specified rod end material, regardless of a loose or tight jam nut. However, a loose jam nut further increased the stress in the rod end about 28 percent and would have reduced the cycles to a fatigue failure. Following the accident, the airplane manufacturer redesigned the aileron bracket assemblies by increasing the diameter of the rod end shank and reducing the moment arm between the bearing and the aileron bracket. The redesign yielded a total stress reduction of about 83 percent in the rod end, which was significantly below the endurance limit for the specified material.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The inadequate aileron hinge design, which resulted in the in-flight separation of the left aileron following a fatigue failure of the center hinge rod-end.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/2/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 2040 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Battle Creek |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49015 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 421823N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0851500W |
| Event Location Airport | W K Kellogg Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BTL |
| 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 | 952 |
| 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 | BTL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 952 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| 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) | 31874 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA - Great Lakes 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 25 2013 11:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | foxt |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N330JK |
| NTSB Number | CEN11LA459 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | WINGTIP TO WINGTIP, LLC |
| Aircraft Model | PANZL S-330 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 009 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1900 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 20 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 180 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John Klatt Airshows, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3511 Silverside Road, Suite 105 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810-4902 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | John Klatt Airshows, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 3511 Silverside Road, Suite 105 |
| Operator City | Wilmington |
| Operator State | DE |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 19810-4902 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| 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) | Air Race/Show |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | BTL |
| Departure City | Battle Creek |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2035 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | BTL |
| Destination City | Battle Creek |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 25 2013 12:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | foxt |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 23R |
| Runway Length | 10004 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |