- Date
- September 4, 2006, 14:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Leamington, UT
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N339JLStraw T-Bird II
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 26, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20060904018379A
- Case key
- 64731
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 pilot's loss of aircraft control (control not possible) due to the failure of the left elevator control surface which was the result of a missing inboard bolt (for undetermined reason) which holds the left elevator bow in place.
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
Witnesses observed the airplane flying low to the west. It started a left turn and continued until it nosed down to the ground. The witnesses heard a loud engine sound all the way until impact. A friend of the pilot examined the aircraft and found the inboard bolt on the left elevator bow was missing, and the outboard bolt was failed in a sheared/twisting mode. The reason that the bolt was missing was undetermined.
Factual narrative
On September 4, 2006, at approximately 1400 mountain daylight time, a Straw T-Bird II experimental homebuilt airplane, N339JL, was substantially damaged following impact with terrain near Leamington, Utah. The private pilot, the sole occupant on board, was seriously injured. The pilot/owner was operating the flight under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local flight; the origination time was undetermined. The pilot had not filed a flight plan.
Witnesses observed the airplane flying low to the west. They said it started a left turn and continued until it nosed down to the ground. They reported hearing a loud engine sound all the way until impact. A friend of the pilot examined the aircraft and found the inboard bolt on the left elevator bow was missing, and the outboard bolt was failed in a sheared/twisting mode. The reason that the bolt was missing was undetermined.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N339JL
- Reported as
- Straw T-Bird II
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 17804
- Engine
- Rotax 912, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Jeffrey P. Straw
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · August 1, 2006
- Departed
- DTA · Delta, UT
- Destination
- DTA
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
- 57
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Seat
- Left
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.17 inHg
- Observed at
- PVU, 50 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.