First hand information on A21 at San Geronimo, Texas

[James Romano]

I am (was) the other owner of the Caproni that went
down at San Geronimo AirPark. I'd like to provide factual
information that may prevent some rumors that appear
to be floating around.

There were four of us that assembled the Caproni.
My partner in the aircraft, his business partner, and
my son. We followed the directions in the manual
and did check each others work to include ensuring
the pins were flush or actually slightly inset from
the wing surface. My partner actually counted the
turns of the upper and lower pins of the right wing
while I was at the end of the wing so I can't confirm
the number of turns. I did check each pin after he
turned them though and they were tight and slightly
inset.

I did not travel to pick up the glider so I can't comment
on what is being said concerning my partner there.
He did drive there in one day and was flying the Caproni
the next day, then drove directly back here after dissassembling
it. He came down with walking pneumonia so I wonder
if he was feeling up to par, but I have not asked him
yet. I've flown with him in a Grob 109 and 103 and
never noted any issues.

I was not there for the maiden flight, so all I know
about the crash is second hand from his business partner
and the pilot himself. The aircraft is absolutely totaled,
I don't know how the pilot survived. He had five broken
ribs, a broken ankle, a collapsed lung, and numerous
bruises. He is out of the hospital and recovering.

It was a beautiful aircraft, and I am heartbroken I
never flew it. I am very glad I did not fly it that
first flight of course.

The FAA never contacted me as the other owner. I have
not heard directly the outcome of the NTSB investigation,
but informally have heard that they determined no pilot
error or assembly error. I hope that is the official
determination. I assume if they had any concerns about
assembly they would have contacted me. I will post
whatever is released.

The pilot is a CFI-G, with over 2000 flights. I have
only 145 glider flights, most of my time was in fighters.
My son and the pilot's business partner are low time
glider pilots.

I've heard nothing about FAA action towards the pilot.


If there are any questions I can answer, I would be
more than happy to do so.

- JJ

[[email protected][_1_]]

I am glad the pilot was not more severely injured!

Based on your observations of the wreckage and discussions with the
pilot and observers, what was the sequence of events in this accident
and what do you believe caused it?

[James Romano]

At 05:48 02 July 2006, wrote:
>I am glad the pilot was not more severely injured!
>
>Based on your observations of the wreckage and discussions
>with the
>pilot and observers, what was the sequence of events
>in this accident
>and what do you believe caused it?

Mark,

I assume you are the Mark Grubb from Tahachapi so you
probably know this glider. I never visited there and
obviously never flew the Caproni, so you might be able
to shed some light also. I am obviously concerned
about the whole episode and want to ensure I can do
whatever I can to prevent something like this from
happening again.

I was not there at the time, so the following is repeated
from the observers and pilot. The pilot was flying
on the right. As soon as the aircraft was about 5
feet in the air on tow launch, the right wing began
to fold up at the connecting joint. The pilot immediately
released from the tow and the Caproni did a rolling
climb to about 30 feet and then nosed almost straight
down. It hit at the top or side of the cockpit, still
rotating, and ripped off the vertial stablizer. It
continued rotating upright and slid across the runway
into the grass almost completely crushing the right
side of the cockpit. Emergency crews were there within
10 minutes but the pilot was already pulled out by
onlookers and given emergency care. At first he could
not breathe, but was able to before anyone reached
the cockpit.

The previous day was spent conducting tows on a PIK
20 to establish decision points, lift off, and other
parameters prior to flying the same test patterns with
the Caproni as there has not been much glding at the
field for a long time and we wanted to have everything
planned out.

The wing failed for some reason. Visual inspection
on assembly indicated the bottom and top pin were in
place and flush, (actually inset a bit) but I do not
know if that is a failsafe inspection method. The
assembly instructions were followed in a slow and deliberate
manner, this was going to be a draw to bring advanced
flying to the area so we were intent on everything
being done right and looking good. We didn't have anyone
that was really experienced in assembling the Caproni
itself there, although lots of time assembling other
gliders. The pilot had, as mentioned, had videotapes
of assembly and disassembly. I did not watch them,
but read the manual and followed his instructions.

I do remember we had to position the wing twice to
get the pin seated properly. The first time the wing
was not flush, the second time it was tight.

But only three things could have happened.

1. Misassembly
2. Proper assembly but a mechanical design or aging
deficiency prevented full engagement of the pin
3. Mechanical failure

Since the FAA did not talk to me I can only repeat
that the pilot said to me the FAA provided a verbal
summary to him recently. He said he was told that no
evidence of misassembly was found and they believe
a defect allowed the pin to appear to be engaged, but
it may not have been quite in place or fully expanded,
I can't remember the exact conversation. He mentioned
something about a possible AD. I hope to see the formal
NTSB finding soon.

The wing connectors did not look like mechanical failure
or metal fatigue or anything like that. They were not
ripped or torn.

Thoughts?

[[email protected][_1_]]

Thanks for the lucid and objective report. The accident scenario you
describe is the stuff of nightmares! I am very glad this did not turn
out far worse.

I do know the ship fairly well and have assisted in rigging/derigging
it dozens of times. The wing attach mechanism is unusual compared to
most gliders but it has been successfully employed in this model of
aircraft for a couple of decades. It operated as-designed the day it
was rigged and derigged in Tehachapi immediately prior to this
incident. Your description suggests that the outboard wing attach pins
were not (fully?) engaged. Does this appear to be the case? Any
further speculation on my part is not relevant or helpful. I eagerly
await the definitive report!

My condolences to you on the loss of the aircraft and best wishes to
the pilot for a speedy recovery!

Best Regards, Mark

[James Romano]

At 17:30 02 July 2006, wrote:
>Thanks for the lucid and objective report. The accident
>scenario you
>describe is the stuff of nightmares! I am very glad
>this did not turn
>out far worse.
>
>I do know the ship fairly well and have assisted in
>rigging/derigging
>it dozens of times. The wing attach mechanism is unusual
>compared to
>most gliders but it has been successfully employed
>in this model of
>aircraft for a couple of decades. It operated as-designed
>the day it
>was rigged and derigged in Tehachapi immediately prior
>to this
>incident. Your description suggests that the outboard
>wing attach pins
>were not (fully?) engaged. Does this appear to be the
>case? Any
>further speculation on my part is not relevant or helpful.
> I eagerly
>await the definitive report!
>
>My condolences to you on the loss of the aircraft and
>best wishes to
>the pilot for a speedy recovery!
>
>Best Regards, Mark
>
All indications are that the bottom pin failed for
some reason. While we are sure the right number of
turns were made to screw it in, (the pilot and my
son counted) and I personally verified it was flush
to slightly inset into the wing, the pin was missing
when I inspected the wing itself after the crash. The
connectors were not bent like the top two were so the
pin must have come out.

I'm not a mechanical engineer so I can't really evaluate
what happened, but the only thing I can think of is
that even with the appearance of being correctly inserted,
it must have been just slightly off and did not expand
out fully. The stress of the wing flex on takeoff allowed
it to come out and then the wing folded up.

Yes, thankfully the pilot is healing and will be back
in the air in a month or so, but it was so sad to lose
such a classic aircraft.

- JJ