Unknown T-BIRD II UNREG

Summary

On 4 August 2002 at about 23:30 local time, a Unknown T-BIRD II registered UNREG was involved in an accident near Berlin, Pennsylvania, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 were seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

4 August 2002 at 23:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Berlin, Pennsylvania, United States

Nearest airport

North View Airport (78PA)

Coordinates

39.9319, -78.9567

Aircraft

Unknown T-BIRD II

Registration

UNREG

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Berlin → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC02LA201

2 people were seriously injured.

Failure of the elevator attachment bolts.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

About 20 minutes after takeoff, while flying through some turbulent air, the pilot experienced a loss of elevator control. The pitch oscillated as the pilot attempted to return to the airport, but the airplane eventually pitched nose down into the roof of a hangar. Examination of the wreckage revealed that two bolts, which secured the elevator assembly, had failed consistent with overstress. A piece from one of the bolts was not recovered, and the pilot did not notice the missing piece until he had removed the fabric near the outer connection of the elevator to recover the other bolt. There were no holes in the fabric, and the pilot could not explain the missing bolt piece. He believed that the missing bolt had failed several years ago. The airplane was manufactured in 1996, and the pilot purchased it from a previous owner in 1999. At the time of purchase, the airplane had accumulated 16 hours of total flight time. The pilot installed a new engine, and had flown about 16 additional hours until the accident. After the purchase, the pilot had the airplane refabricated. He thought it was possible that the people refabricating the airplane did not notice the missing bolt, and it dropped to the ground during the refabrication. The pilot surmised that flying 16 hours with one bolt missing increased the stress on the remaining bolt.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.