Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Reid-Hillview Of Santa Clara C Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Jose, California 95122
Sunday, December 15, 2013 10:30 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The certified flight instructor (CFI) and student pilot planned to conduct an instructional flight in the tandem-seat, tailwheel-equipped airplane. The student pilot had a total flight experience of 20 hours, all of which was in the accident airplane make and model. He had not soloed yet. The reported wind was calm with 10 miles visibility. The student pilot was seated in the front seat of the tandem-seat airplane, and began the takeoff roll, his first for that day. The takeoff roll was described by the CFI as "a little wiggly," but was in accordance with the CFI's experience and expectations for a student pilot in a tailwheel airplane. Just after liftoff, the airplane drifted off the right side of the 75-foot-wide runway. The CFI did not take over the controls, since he did not perceive any immediate hazards. He then felt the airplane "hit something." He took over the controls, landed the airplane on the remaining runway, and the airplane was taxied to a parking spot. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the fabric on the aft bottom fuselage was torn, and some of the fuselage structural tubing members were bent or broken. Additional examination revealed that an airport taxiway sign was damaged, and that debris from the sign was scattered on the runway. Witness marks indicated that the airplane had struck the top of that sign. The CFI reported that he never saw the sign during the veeroff, due to his rear-seat location. There were no reports by either pilot of a preimpact mechanical malfunction or failure with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The flight instructor's failure to correct for the student pilot's loss of aircraft control in a timely manner during takeoff. Contributing to the accident was the instructor's inability to see the taxiway sign from the rear seat.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/15/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | San Jose |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95122 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 372004N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1214913W |
| Event Location Airport | REID-HILLVIEW OF SANTA CLARA C |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RHV |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 347 |
| Airport Elevation | 135 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 1030 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 119 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KRHV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 133 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| 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) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32447 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA WP ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 7 2014 5:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | huhm |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N53893 |
| NTSB Number | WPR14CA070 |
| 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 | BELLANCA |
| Aircraft Model | 7ECA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | NO SERIES |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1140-76 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1650 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 5 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 7472 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AMELIA REID AVIATION LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2650 ROBERT FOWLER WAY |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN JOSE |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 951481015 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | AMELIA REID AVIATION LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 2650 ROBERT FOWLER WAY |
| Operator City | SAN JOSE |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 951481015 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | RHV |
| Departure City | San Jose |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | RHV |
| Destination City | San Jose |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 7 2014 5:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | huhm |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 31R |
| Runway Length | 3100 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |