- Date
- November 2, 2003, 17:20 local (22:20 UTC)
- Place
- Waxhaw, NC
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N432JRBartholomew Firestar
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 24, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Charlotte FSDO-33
- Case key
- 58273
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's failure to maintain airspeed while maneuvering on final approach resulting in an inadvertent stall and in-flight collision with trees and the ground.
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 stated he was on final approach at the JAARS-Townsend Airport. He realized that he was too high, so he made a 360-degree turn to the left followed by a 360-degree turn to the right. The turn rate was almost completed when the right roll rate increased due to encountering the wake turbulence from the initial 360-degree turn. The airplane stalled and collided with the trees and the ground.
Factual narrative
On November 2, 2003, at 1720 Eastern Standard Time, a Bartholomew Firestar, N432JR, registered to a private owner, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, stalled and collided with trees on approach for landing at JAARS-Townsend Airport, Waxhaw, North Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane received substantial damage. The flight originated from Waxhaw, North Carolina, on November 2, 2003, at 1620.
The pilot stated he realized he was too high on the approach, so he made a right 360-degree turn to the left followed by a 360-turn to the right. The turn rate was almost completed when the right roll rate dramatically increased due to wake turbulence from the initial 360-degree turn causing the right wing to stall and the airplane collided with the trees and ground. When asked what his airspeed was when the airplane stalled the pilot stated about 29 mph.
Review of performance data from the Kolb Aircraft Company, revealed the Firestar airplane will stall in the clean and landing configuration at 33 mph.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N432JR
- Reported as
- Bartholomew Firestar
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- BHHW-1
- Airframe hours
- 818
- Engine
- Rotax 377, 35 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Cornelius A. Wolfe
- Registered owner
- Paul Bartholomew
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 26, 2003 · 10 hours before
- Departed
- 2NC1 · Waxhaw, NC
- Destination
- N52 · Waxhaw, NC
- Airport
- N52 · JAARS-Townsend
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
- 59
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- May 6, 1999
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 4,106 total · 500 in this make and model · 3,791 as pilot in command · 4 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 10° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.19 inHg
- Observed at
- CLT, 25 nm away
Other investigations on N432JR · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.