Globe GC-1B N78053

Summary

On 4 July 2003 at about 18:15 local time, a Globe GC-1B registered N78053 was involved in an accident near Truckee, California, United States. 2 people were on board and one died, one was 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 July 2003 at 18:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Truckee, California, United States

Nearest airport

Truckee-Tahoe Airport (TRK)

Coordinates

36.1163, -119.6809

Aircraft

Globe GC-1B

Registration

N78053

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Truckee → Grass Valley

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX03FA207

1 person died.

an in-flight loss of control due to the pilot's rotation to an excessive pitch up attitude after takeoff and his failure to maintain an adequate airspeed, which resulted in a stall. Factors in the accident were the high density altitude and the lack of stall warning devices on the airplane.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During the takeoff initial climb while in a high nose pitch attitude, the airplane banked to the right and impacted the runway. Several witnesses at the airport, who are pilots, observed the accident sequence. As the airplane lifted off the runway surface, the airplane's nose was in an unusually high pitch attitude. Several feet above the surface, the airplane's landing gear folded into the retracted position as the angle of attack continued to increase. The airplane stalled, and the right wing and nose impacted the ground simultaneously. Examination of the engine and airframe revealed no evidence of pre-mishap catastrophic mechanical malfunction or failure of any system. The airplane has a maximum gear retraction operating speed of 80 mph and does not have a stall warning horn or light. The landing gear system is operated by a hydraulic pump driven by an electrical motor. The mechanic who worked on this airplane said the gear pump motor was the original factory installed one, which was underpowered and resulted in slow gear retraction times. The pilot had recently installed a more powerful engine, which would require a steeper climb attitude to maintain a speed at or below the maximum gear operating speed while the landing gear completes the retraction cycle. The density altitude was calculated to be about 7,700 feet.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.