Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Carroll County Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Westminster, Maryland 21158
Friday, June 15, 2012 10:10 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The special-light sport airplane was designed with the ability to fold both wings back to facilitate storage and transportation. In addition, both wings and the horizontal stabilizer were removable. The pilot, who was also a mechanic, disassembled the airplane for storage during the winter. He subsequently reassembled it and completed a condition inspection. He then flew the airplane to an airport where a ballistic parachute system was installed. The pilot then flew the airplane to another airport and, the next day, departed on the accident flight with the intention of delivering the airplane to its owner.
About 20 minutes after takeoff, the airplane experienced a disconnected elevator, and the pilot attempted to fly to a nearby airport. The airplane was about 50 feet above the ground when it entered a sudden steep pitch downward and impacted the ground about 60 feet before the runway.
The airplane's flight controls were actuated by a series of push-pull rods. The respective push-pull rods for the left and right ailerons and elevator controls featured a "quick-fastener" to disconnect and reconnect the respective flight control. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the elevator quick-fastener was disconnected. Additional examination of the quick-fastener revealed that it contained some corrosion; however, it did not experience any failures and was capable of functioning as designed. In addition, the ballistic parachute system parachute was not activated, and the activation handle, which was mounted on the center console, was found secured with a padlock. The key for the padlock was found on a key ring with the ignition key, which remained inserted in the ignition switch.
The preflight checklist located in the pilot operating handbook required a check of the quick-fasteners and the ballistic parachute activation handle before every flight. Associated placards were also present in the cockpit. The pilot had at least three opportunities to identify an improperly secured elevator quick-fastener since he assembled the airplane; at least two of those opportunities occurred after the installation of the ballistic recovery parachute system. While it could not be determined if the pilot would have used the airplane's ballistic recovery parachute system, his failure to remove the padlock from the activation handle precluded the option of deploying the system during the accident flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection, which failed to ensure that the elevator quick-fastener was properly secured, resulting in an inflight elevator control disconnect and subsequent loss of control during the ensuing emergency landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to remove the padlock from the airplane's ballistic recovery system parachute activation handle.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/15/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1010 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Westminster |
| Event State | MARYLAND |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 21158 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 393631N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0770027W |
| Event Location Airport | Carroll County Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DMW |
| 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 | 789 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1007 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DMW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 789 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.31 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 31590 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Maryland State Police |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 27 2013 10:19AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N206GX |
| NTSB Number | ERA12FA395 |
| 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 | REMOS ACFT GMBH FLUGZEUGBAU |
| Aircraft Model | REMOS GX |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 335 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1320 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 1 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 210 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ROBENS JANE F |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | PISECO |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 12139-0023 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | ROBENS JANE F |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | PISECO |
| Operator State | NY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 12139-0023 |
| 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 | FDK |
| Departure City | Frederick |
| Departure State | MD |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 935 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | K09 |
| Destination City | Piseco |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 27 2013 10:20AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 16 |
| Runway Length | 5100 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |