- Date
- June 4, 1983, 15:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Calhoun, GA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N111UDBellanca 8KCAB
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830604026279A
- Case key
- 5919
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 plt had flown to the arpt to perform aerobatic maneuvers at a fly-in. He had a low altitude waiver to perform down to 500 ft AGL. Before the flight, he told several spectators he was going to do a maneuver right after takeoff. Witnesses reported that the eng sounded normal during the takeoff. Shortly after lift-off, the plt turned on his airshow smoke. At an estimated altitude of 200 to 300 ft, he executed a rapid right roll that witnesses described as a snap roll, reportedly, the acft rolled aprx 90 deg past 1 complete roll, then the nose pitched & the plane crashed in a near vertical attitude. An airline plt (owner of a Bellanca decathalon) was one of the witnesses that described the maneuver as a snap roll. According to his description, the plt used insufficient rudder to stop the roll after completing 1 turn.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N111UD
- Reported as
- Bellanca 8KCAB
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 405-78
- Airframe hours
- 465
- Engine
- Lycoming AEIO-360-H1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ronald E. White
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 1, 1982 · 60 hours before
- Airport
- PVT · Mercer, runway 36, 3,000 × 100 ft, grass/turf
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
- 39
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 830 total · 354 in this make and model · 683 as pilot in command · 16 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.