- Date
- August 28, 1993, 20:15 local (Aug 29, 1993, 04:15 UTC)
- Place
- Nome, AK
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N23JMMorgan Steen Skybolt MI-2
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 26, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19930828031489A
- Case key
- 2415
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 delayed in recovering from the aerobatic maneuver.
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
The pilot was performing aerial maneuveres for a crowd of people involved in a cookout. Witnesses stated that the pilot had done several aerobatic maneuvers which ended with an undetermined number of 360 degree spins. The airplane had stopped spinning, leveled its wings, and raised its nose to a relatively level attitude, but was still descending when it hit the ground. The pilot died of accident related injuries 11 days following the accident.
Factual narrative
On August 28, 1993, at 2020 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped homebuilt Morgan Steen Skybolt MI-2 airplane, N23JM, crashed while performing aerobatics 22 miles east of Nome, Alaska. The airline transport pilot, the sole occupant, received serious injuries, and the airplane was substantially damaged. The personal local flight, operating under 14 CFR Part 91, departed Nome at approximately 1945. Visual meteorological conditions existed, and no flight plan was filed.
Several witnesses reported seeing the airplane execute a three turn spin, then level the wings just before it impacted the ground.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N23JM
- Reported as
- Morgan Steen Skybolt MI-2 (STEEN SKYB)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- M100
- Airframe hours
- 399
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-8285, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Mcculloch, Chris P.
- Registered owner
- Mcculloch, Chris P.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 18, 1992 · 121 hours before
- Departed
- OME
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
- 27
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 8,251 total · 250 in this make and model · 7,423 as pilot in command · 629 in the last 90 days · 188 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- OME, 22 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.