Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lancaster Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lancaster, Texas 75146
Sunday, September 18, 2011 15:40 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot landed the tailwheel-equipped airplane with a crosswind, and during the landing rollout the airplane veered to the right. The pilot's attempts to correct the veer by applying left rudder pedal and left brake were unsuccessful. The airplane exited the right side of the runway, ground looped, and the left main landing gear collapsed resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the tailwheel assembly, tailwheel steering arm, and rudder stops were all in working condition. However, when combined together, the resulting configuration allowed the tailwheel to unlock and fully swivel 15 degrees prior to the rudder reaching full travel in either direction. Subsequently, when the airplane slowed to an airspeed at which the rudder was no longer effective and rudder input was added to correct for the crosswind, the tailwheel disengaged, resulting in the runway excursion.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the tailwheel to remain locked during a crosswind landing, which resulted in a loss of directional control.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/18/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1540 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Lancaster |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 75146 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 323439N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0964303W |
| Event Location Airport | Lancaster Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LNC |
| 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 | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 1535 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LNC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 501 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| 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) | 29.91 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KLNC 182015Z AUTO 18012G16KT 10SM CLR 33/18 |
| 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) | 29117 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 23 2011 1:04PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N98D |
| NTSB Number | CEN11LA658 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MARK DIVITA |
| Aircraft Model | RV-8 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 82963 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1800 |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 3 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 15 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DIVITA MARK |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 112 OAK HOLLOW LN |
| Aircraft Owner City | RED OAK |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75154-4610 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | DIVITA MARK |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 112 OAK HOLLOW LN |
| Operator City | RED OAK |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 75154-4610 |
| 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 | LNC |
| Departure City | Lancaster |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1535 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | LNC |
| Destination City | Lancaster |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 19 2011 7:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | lebt |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 13 |
| Runway Length | 6502 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |