LAX95LA151 · Andris KR2
Andris KR2 · Accident: airframe, component or system failure during initial climb
From O15 to an unrecorded destination
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX95LA151
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Andris KR2
- Aircraft type
- Andris KR2
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N22955
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From O15To not recorded
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Initial climb
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Airframe, component or system failure
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Wire, transmission
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Miscellaneous, bolt/nut/fastener/clamp/spring › Disengaged
- Owner/builder › Aircraft preflight, inadequate
- Propeller system/accessories, safety clip › Sheared
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
THE AIRCRAFT HAD NOT BEEN INSPECTED OR SIGNED OFF BY THE FAA, NOR HAD AN EXPERIMENTAL AIRWORTHINESS CERTIFICATE BEEN ISSUED. THE PILOT'S FLIGHT RECORDS REVEALED THAT HIS LAST LOGGED FLIGHT WAS IN 1985, AND HIS LAST BIENNIAL FLIGHT REVIEW WAS IN 1984. THE PILOT TOLD FAA INSPECTORS THAT AT FIRST HE WAS JUST GOING TO DO ANOTHER HIGH SPEED TAXI TEST, 'BUT THE DAY WAS SO NICE' THAT HE DECIDED TO FLY. THE AIRCRAFT DEPARTED RUNWAY 30 AND WAS ON CROSSWIND WHEN THE PROPELLER SEPARATED FROM THE CRANKSHAFT. THE PILOT TURNED BACK TOWARDS THE RUNWAY, BUT HAD INSUFFICIENT ALTITUDE TO MAKE THE RUNWAY AND COLLIDED WITH HIGH-TENSION POWER LINES. THE FAA INSPECTOR REPORTED THAT THE PROPELLER IS ATTACHED TO A FLANGE, WHICH IN TURN IS SECURED TO THE VOLKSWAGEN ENGINE CRANKSHAFT BY MEANS OF A BOLT AND COTTER PIN. THE PIN WAS FOUND SHEARED AND THE BOLT BACKED OUT. EVIDENCE OF FULL THREAD ENGAGEMENT AT SOME TIME WAS NOTED ON THE BOLT. THE INSPECTOR STATED THAT 5.7 HOURS OF GROUND RUN AND TAXI TESTS HAD BEEN COMPLETED BY THE PILOT PRIOR TO THIS FIRST FLIGHT.
Probable cause
the failure of the propeller attach bolt retaining cotter pin, and the pilot/builder's inadequate preflight inspection of the aircraft prior to the attempted flight.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX95LA151
- Event ID
- 20001207X03309
- Case number
- LAX95LA151
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: f8b548835303296e64f6d21d325dfa67abe9dee58c10ff23350059a32105e0ce; retrieved 2026-09-21T22:21:33.882Z.