Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Calaveras Co-Maury Rasmussen Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Andreas, California 95249
Friday, November 23, 2012 15:30 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A witness observed the airplane in a steep bank (estimated at between 60 and 80 degrees) while turning from the base leg to final approach in the traffic pattern. He then observed the airplane enter a spin and stated the airplane was in a near vertical nose-down attitude when the right wing separated from the airframe. Another witness reported that after the airplane’s first spin revolution, the leading edge came off of a wing and that during the second spin revolution the other wing separated. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that both wings had separated from the airplane about the same spanwise location (about 17 inches outboard of the wing attach points). The right wing’s front spar fracture face showed areas of tension and compression failures of the wood fibers that were consistent with the wing failing in a downward direction. Both the leading edge and front spar of the left wing had diagonal cuts through them that were consistent with having been struck by the airplane’s propeller. The inboard front spar fracture face was examined, but the fiber failures were destroyed by the ground impact, so a directionality of failure could not be determined. However, the propeller strike on the leading edge and front spar could only occur if the left wing failed upward into the propeller. There were no obvious signs of rot or preexisting conditions in the wood spars examined, and none of the wing attachment bolts failed. The witness reports indicating that the airplane was in a continuous steepening turn from the downwind leg to final approach immediately before the accident and the observed damage suggest that the pilot’s control inputs stressed the airplane’s wings beyond their design capabilities.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's excessive flight control inputs, which led to flight that exceeded the structural limits of the airplane and resulted in structural failure of both wings.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/23/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | San Andreas |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95249 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 380846N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1203853W |
| Event Location Airport | Calaveras CO-Maury Rasmussen |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CPU |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1325 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1555 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 248 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SCK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 33 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.18 |
| 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) | 31763 |
| NTSB Notification Source | LAX Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 14 2013 2:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8VS |
| NTSB Number | WPR13LA050 |
| 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 | Sater |
| Aircraft Model | Coot A-Amphib |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | Sater Coot #1 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1950 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Russell W. Hackler |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Danville |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94506 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Russell Hackler |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Danville |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 94506 |
| 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 | CPU |
| Departure City | San Andreas |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1530 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | CPU |
| Destination City | San Andreas |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 14 2013 2:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 31 |
| Runway Length | 3603 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |