# Incident 20110606010419I: Dawson Tony/Guin Arlon QUESTAIR VENTURE 20, New Smyrna Beac, FL, June 6, 2011

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: June 6, 2011, 11:04 local time
- Place: New Smyrna Beac, FL
- Airport: New Smyrna Beach Municipal
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Cruise/Level Flight
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 29.0557° N, 80.9489° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at NEW SMYRNA BEACH MUNI (JACK BOLT FLD) (EVB), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=29.0557&lon=-80.9489&mi=10
- Aircraft: N94Y, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N94Y) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Dawson Tony/Guin Arlon QUESTAIR 20 (registry code 05628QM, https://openairdocs.org/model/dawson-tony-guin-arlon-questair-20) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Continental IO-550 series (registry code 17042, https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-550-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: DAWSON TONY/GUIN ARLON QUESTAIR VENTURE 20
- Reported engine: CONT MOTOR IO-550 SERIES
- People aboard: 2
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 2
- Pilot certificates: Airline transport, commercial pilot, flight instructor
- Pilot flight hours: 6,700 total, 900 in this make and model, 50 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20110606010419I

## Narrative

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

ON MONDAY 6 JUNE 2011, AIRCRAFT N94Y, AN EXPERIMENTAL AMATEUR-BUILT QUESTAIR "VENTURE 20", EXPERIENCED CANOPY DISINTEGRATION FOR UNKNOWN STRUCTURAL REASONS WHILE OPERATING SOUTHEAST OF LAKE ASHBY NEAR NEW SMYRNA BEACH, FL, AT APPROXIMATELY 1400 FEET MSL AND 230 KIAS.  THE PILOT AND PASSENGER SUSTAINED MINOR INJURIES IN THE FORM OF LACERATIONS AND WIND BLAST TO THE FACE, WERE TREATED AND RELEASED FROM A LOCAL HOSPITAL.  THE AIRCRAFT SUSTAINED MINOR DAMAGE.  N94Y MADE AN UNDECLARED EMERGENCY LANDING AT NEW SMYRNA BEACH MUNICIPAL AIRPORT (KEVB) RW 29 AND REQUESTED MEDICAL ASSISTANCE.   BOTH MEMBERS WERE TREATED FOR FACIAL LACERATIONS.POSTFLIGHT INSPECTION REVEALED SIGNIFICANTLY DISINTEGRATED CANOPY, WITH MOST OF THE PLEXIGLASS TORN OFF TO THE FRAME ATTACHMENT BONDING SEAM.  SEVERAL PIECES WERE RECOVERED INSIDE THE AIRCRAFT, HOWEVER, MOST OF THE PLEXIGLASS WAS LOST OVERBOARD.  AIRFRAME DAMAGE INCLUDES MINOR DENTING OF LEADING EDGES OF VERTICAL AND RIGHT HORIZONTAL STABILIZER, SEVERAL SKIN GOUGES AND PUNCTURES; NO SPAR OR CONTROL SURFACE DAMAGE.  BOTH CREWMEMBERS BLED DURING THE EVENT RECOVERY, AND THERE IS EXTENSIVE BLOOD SPATTERED INSIDE THE COCKPIT AND ON THE EXTERIOR SURFACES BEHIND THE COCKPIT.ALTHOUGH BIRDS WERE OBSERVED BY THE CREW IN THE AREA, NO EVIDENCE WAS FOUND TO SUPPORT A BIRD STRIKE THEORY.  THECANOPY WAS THE ORIGINAL PIECE FROM 1995, AND HAD UNDERGONE A SERIES OF MODIFICATIONS AND AT LEAST ONE PLEXIGLASS REPAIR IN ITS LIFETIME.   THE PASSENGER HAD PERFORMED A REINFORCEMENT OF THE CANOPY FRAME APPROXIMATELY JUNE 2010, BUT THE PLEXIGLASS AND FRAME WERE THE ORIGINAL COMPONENTS FROM 1995.  BOTH CREWMEMBERS STATED THE AIRCRAFT IS WELL HANGARED, AND THAT THE FIT OF THE CANOPY WAS "PERFECT".   CONDITION INSPECTION WAS CURRENT.  THE FLIGHT WAS APPROXIMATELY 5-10 MINUTES AIRBORNE WHEN THE EVENT OCCURRED.

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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