# Accident 19980308002819A: Amtr RV3, Elbert, CO, March 8, 1998

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: March 8, 1998, 15:10 local time
- Place: Elbert, CO
- Airport: Black Forest Glider Park Airport
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Descent
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 39.2200° N, 104.5306° W: From the FAA, an estimate near the named town, within about 3 miles
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=39.2200&lon=-104.5306&mi=10
- Aircraft: N99HV, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N99HV-2000-09-28) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Duci Tony RV3-528 (registry code 05608E1, https://openairdocs.org/model/duci-tony-rv3-528) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: AMTR RV3
- Reported engine: LYC O320*
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 1
- Pilot flight hours: 5,166 total, 22 in this make and model
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB FTW98FA145](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/FTW98FA145) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19980308002819A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

RIGHT WING FOLDED DURING AEROBATICS. HOMEBUILT NOT MODIFIER FOR AEROBATIC FLIGHT PER BEEFING UP SPAR.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           (.4) A WITNESS SAID THE PILOT WAS PERFORMING AEROBATICS, AND WHILE MANEUVERING, THE AIRCRAFT (ACFT) WENT INTO A NOSE HIGH ATTITUDE AS IF IT WAS COMING TO THE TOP OF A LOOP. HE SAID ONE OF THE WINGS SUDDENLY 'FOLDED' UP, AND 'IT LOOKED AS IF IT HAD BENT AT THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE WING AND THE FUSELAGE. . . .' THE ACFT THEN ENTERED AN UNCONTROLLED DESCENT & CRASHED. METALLURGICAL EXAM OF THE RIGHT WING REVEALED OVERLOAD FRACTURES IN THE LOWER & UPPER MAIN SPAR CAPS, WHICH WERE INDICATIVE OF UPWARD FAILURE; INITIAL FRACTURE WAS IN THE LOWER CAP AREA. TWISTING & UPWARD BENDING OF THE MAIN UPPER SPAR CAP WAS NOTED, AS WELL AS 'OVERSTRESS SEPARATION.'  FIVE BOLT HOLES WERE FOUND AT THE INBOARD PORTION OF THE UPPER & LOWER MAIN SPAR CAPS WITH NO RESPECTIVE BOLTS OR REMNANTS OF SUCH BOLTS. NO DEFORMATION OR DISTORTION OF ANY OF THE BOLT HOLES WAS NOTED, BUT CIRCULAR MARKINGS WERE NOTED ON THE FORWARD SIDE OF BOTH OUTBOARD HOLES, & SIMILAR INDICATIONS WERE NOTED ON THE AFT SIDE OF 2 OTHER HOLES IN THE LOWER MAIN SPAR CAP. THE INVESTIGATION DID NOT DETERMINE WHETHER THE MISSING BOLTS HAD FAILED & SEPARATED DURING THE BREAKUP, OR IF THEY HAD NOT BEEN REINSTALLED DURING PREVIOUS MAINTENANC E/MODIFICATION. ALL RIVETS IN FOTH THE UPPER & LOWER MAIN SPAR CAPS WERE BROKEN THROUGH THE SHANKS' CONSISTENT WITH DIRECT SHEAR SEPARATIONS.  NO EVIDNECE OF CRACKING OR BREAKING OF RIVET HEADS...WAS NOTED.'  THIS WAS 1 OF 3 RV-3S BUILT BY TONY DUCI & THE 2ND OT STRUCTURALLY FAIL IN FLIGHT.  ACFT HAD BEEN MODIFIED AS AN RV-3A, BUT HAD NOT BEEN RE-CERTIFIED AS SUCH.  AEROBATIC GROSS WEIGHT LIMIT (1050LBS) HAD BEEN EXCEEDED BY AN ESTIMATED 120 LBS.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB FTW98FA145](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/FTW98FA145), Mar 8, 1998: Duci'S Vans RV-3 (N99HV), Elbert, CO, destroyed, 1 fatal. Probable cause: in-flight failure of the right wing spar (for an undetermined reason) as the pilot was performing aerobatic flight. The airplane's excessive gross weight (for aerobatics) was a related factor.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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