- Date
- July 20, 1991, 17:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Mobile, AL
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N96802Taylorcraft BC12-D
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 23, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910720028749A
- Case key
- 8331
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 failure of the pilot to maintain airspeed and his subsequent inadvertent stall during his attempt to return to the departure runway. A factor was the loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.
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
Witnesses reported that the aircraft had taxied on the runway, at high speed, several times. A takeoff was then made, and when the aircraft had climbed to about 200 feet, above ground level, the engine sputtered. The aircraft then turned back toward the runway, entered a nose dive, and collided with the terrain in a vertical nose down position. Investigation revealed that the pilot, who was not a licensed mechanic, had recently replaced the carburetor. The fuel on board the aircraft was an automotive type fuel, and no evidence of a supplemental type certificate for the use of automotive fuel could be found. There was evidence of rotational damage to the propeller, and the throttle was found in the idle position.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N96802
- Reported as
- Taylorcraft BC12-D
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 9102
- Engine
- Rolls-Royce O-200, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Bean, Edwin A.
- Registered owner
- Bean, Edwin A.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Airport
- NONE · Private, runway 18, 1,400 × 75 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
- 37
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 200 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 160° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 86 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MOB, 4 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.