New Smyrna Beach Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

New Smyrna Beach, Florida 32168
Tuesady, April 3, 2012 11:45 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The ground controller instructed the pilot to taxi the airplane to the active runway. The pilot stated that the taxiway that he was instructed to taxi on was “very rough,” so he elected to taxi the airplane in the grass as he had done several times before. When the nose gear came in contact with the grass area, the pilot heard a loud noise, and the nose landing gear collapsed. An examination of the wreckage revealed that the airplane’s wood structure fractured at the nose gear assembly attachment location, which ripped through the bottom fuselage area under the rudder pedals section. After the wood structure of the nose gear assembly fractured, the surrounding structure was unable to support the load on the nose landing gear, which resulted in the nose landing gear collapse. According to a mechanic who performed work on the airplane, the wooden design of the airplane was not able to support the loads for that type of landing gear system.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the nose landing gear wooden attachment/support structure, which resulted in collapse of the nose landing gear during taxi. Contributing to the accident was the improper design of the nose landing gear attachment structure.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/3/2012
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1145
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City New Smyrna Beach
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 32168
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 290320N
Event Location Longitude 0805656W
Event Location Airport New Smyrna Beach Municipal
Event Location Nearest Airport ID EVB
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 2
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 10
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1100 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID EVB
Elevation of weather observation facility 10
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
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) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 19
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 80
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
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) 31119
NTSB Notification Source Orlando FSDO
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record May 1 2013 7:14PM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N320WJ
NTSB Number ERA12LA296
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 JONES
Aircraft Model SA105
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 6817
Certified Max Gross Weight 2200
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Aug 25 2011 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 28
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Keith Carver
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Laud O' Lakes
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 34639
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name Ian G. Disney
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Palatka
Operator State FL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 32177
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 EVB
Departure City New Smyrna Beach
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code EVB
Destination City New Smyrna Beach
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 1 2013 7:26PM
User who most recently changed record johb
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --