Lee Kolb MARK III CLASSIC N515AB

Summary

On 4 November 2005 at about 15:30 local time, a Lee Kolb MARK III CLASSIC registered N515AB, operated by Wiliam D. Fulton, was involved in an accident near Tucson, Arizona, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

4 November 2005 at 15:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Tucson, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Ryan Field Airport (RYN)

Coordinates

32.1422, -111.1744

Aircraft

Lee Kolb MARK III CLASSIC

Registration

N515AB

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Wiliam D. Fulton

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tucson → Tucson

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX06CA027

Nobody was injured.

the fatigue failure of the attachment that secured the horizontal stabilizer to the fuselage.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane made a forced landing after the horizontal stabilizer attachment failed in flight. The instructional flight departed with the intention of practicing takeoffs and landings. On the downwind leg, the pilots heard a loud bang. The airplane lurched nose up, then nose down. The flight instructor took control of the aircraft and informed the tower he had a flight control problem. He was able to land the aircraft using cross control inputs. The instructor inspected the airplane and determined that the right horizontal stabilizer had separated from the fuselage due to a stainless steel "L" bracket failure. The instructor attributed the failure to a loose bolt in the "L" bracket that allowed a vibration and caused metal fatigue of the component.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.