- Date
- May 7, 1989, 17:20 local (21:20 UTC)
- Place
- Fuquay-Varina, NC
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N7VCSmithgall Pitts Special S-1C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 19, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890507011099A
- Case key
- 7849
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
Pilot did not maintain sufficient altitude to insure recovery from an aerobatic maneuver and spin.
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 practicing an aerobatic maneuver which culminated in a spin. Subsequently, he found himself in a position from which there was insufficient altitude to recover. While still descending, the aircraft hit trees & crashed. The pilot was able to crawl away from the aircraft before it began burning. Subsequently, the aircraft was demolished by fire.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7VC
- Reported as
- Smithgall Pitts Special S-1C
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 001
- Airframe hours
- 1,361
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Vernon L. Cox
- Registered owner
- Vernon Lewis Cox
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Unknown · September 18, 1987 · 61 hours before
- Departed
- 5W5 · Raleigh, NC
- Destination
- NC81 · Apex, NC
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
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 6,865 total · 1,310 in this make and model · 6,865 as pilot in command · 50 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 22 knots, gusting 29
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- RDU, 20 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.
Other investigations on N7VC · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.