Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Rutland Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rutland, Vermont 05701
Tuesady, October 28, 2014 17:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, he overflew the runway, observed the windsock, and elected to perform a left quartering headwind landing. The approach and landing on runway 19 was "uneventful" and during the landing roll, the pilot applied left aileron and used both rudder pedals to maintain directional control. Then, the airplane began to veer to the left and "ground looped." The airplane sustained substantial damage to the rudder during the accident sequence. The pilot further reported that a mechanic indicated that the "tailwheel may be broken" which may have contributed to the ground loop. A postaccident examination revealed that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The winds reported at the airport about the time of the accident were from 120 degrees at 16 knots gusting to 23 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing rollout in gusty crosswind conditions, which resulted in a ground loop and subsequent substantial damage to the airplane.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/28/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1745 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rutland |
| Event State | VERMONT |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 05701 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 433622N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0725826W |
| Event Location Airport | Rutland Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KRUT |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 787 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2155 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 167 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KRUT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 787 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 23 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.87 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KRUT 282155Z 12016G23KT 10SM CLR 16/06 A2987 RMK A |
| 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) | 33529 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA New England ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2014 4:38PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N340BF |
| NTSB Number | ERA15CA037 |
| 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 | AVIAT AIRCRAFT INC |
| Aircraft Model | S 2C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | C |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6055 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1698 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | 0 |
| Passenger Seats | 1 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 23 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 396 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Gregory J. Westcott Revocable Trust |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Lancaster |
| Aircraft Owner State | NH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 03584 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Gregory J. Westcott Revocable Trust |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Lancaster |
| Operator State | NH |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 03584 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ANP |
| Departure City | Annapolis |
| Departure State | MD |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 900 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | HIE |
| Destination City | Whitefield |
| Destination State | NH |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2014 4:39PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 19 |
| Runway Length | 5003 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |