- Date
- November 6, 2004, 11:45 local (17:45 UTC)
- Place
- Cleveland, MO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N90JWJabat Avid Flyer
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 24, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Kansas City, MO FSDO
- FAA report
- 20041106028389A
- Case key
- 60521
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The separation of the wing skin from the wing structure and the pilot's subsequent inablility to maintain aircraft control. A factor associated with the accident was the tree that the airplane contacted.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The homebuilt airplane collided with trees while making an off airport forced landing. The pilot reported that a malfunction occurred on the right wing while he was flying at 1,000 feet above mean sea level. He stated the airplane entered a right descending spiral. The airplane descended into a field about 2 miles away from his departure airstrip. The pilot stated the airplane contacted the ground then slid into trees, damaging the right wing. A post accident examination of the airplane revealed the fabric on the right wing had separated from the ribs. No other failures/malfunctions with the wing were noted. The pilot reported the fabric is glued to 1-inch rib caps in the wings. He also reported that it appeared as if the fabric had pulled away from the caps. The airplane was constructed in 1985 and it had been flown about 300 hours prior to the accident. The pilot reported the last annual inspection of the airplane was in April, 2004, and the airplane had been flown 4 hours since that inspection.
Factual narrative
On November 6, 2004, at 1145 central standard time, a homebuilt Jabat, Inc., Avid Flyer, N90JW, collided with trees while making an off airport forced landing in Cleveland, Missouri. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The flight originated from a private airstrip in Cleveland, Missouri, at 1105.
The pilot reported that a malfunction occurred on the right wing while he was flying at 1,000 feet above mean sea level. He stated the airplane entered a right descending spiral. The airplane descended into a field about 2 miles away from his departure airstrip. The pilot stated the airplane contacted the ground then slid into trees, damaging the right wing.
A post accident examination of the airplane was conducted by an inspector from the Federal Aviation Administration Flight Standards District Office in Kansas City, Missouri. The inspector reported that it appeared as if the fabric on the right wing had separated from the ribs. No other failures/malfunctions with the wing were noted.
The pilot reported the fabric is glued to 1-inch rib caps in the wings. He also reported that it appeared as if the fabric had pulled away from the caps.
The airplane was constructed in 1985 and it had been flown about 300 hours prior to the accident. The pilot reported the last annual inspection of the airplane was in April, 2004, and the airplane had been flown 4 hours since that inspection.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N90JW
- Reported as
- Jabat Avid Flyer
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 110
- Engine
- Rotax 532, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- John J. Wackly
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- PVT · Cleveland, MO
- Destination
- PVT · Cleveland, MO
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 69
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 698 total · 310 in this make and model · 523 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.95 inHg
- Observed at
- OJC
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.