- Date
- September 20, 1988, 18:25 local (23:25 UTC)
- Place
- Oswego, IL
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N50702Bellanca 8KCAB
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 31, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA report
- 19880920039529A
- Case key
- 13973
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
Inadequate design inthe manufacture of the pilot's seat which failed during intentional aerobatic maneuvers for which the aircraft including the seat were intended.
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
Drg aerobatics, the acft went in a dive, gained speed, leveled off & pulled up abruptly. Drg the pull-up, the rgt wing failed upward & sepd fm the acft. The acft then went out of ctl & crashed. The plt was wearing a parachute, but did not bail-out; he was found strapped in his seat & the door rls pin was still in place. There was evidence of upward bending of the left wing; both horizontal stabilizers had evidence of being compromised in a dwnwrd drctn. An exam of the plt's seat revealed the tubular ends of the seat-back frame had failed at the pivot points (pvt pts), where the seat-back was designed to pivot fwd ovr the seat pan to allow entry to the aft seat. Attaching bolts at the pvt pts had pulled thru the ends of the frame. Evidence of overstress shear was fnd at the rgt pvt pt as if the seat-back had failed aft. Evidence of overstress shear & twisting deformation was fnd at the left pvt pt. Bellanca 7 & 8 series acft have had svrl seatback failures at the hinge point or at the welded junction of the seat's lower side tube & seatback side brace.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N50702
- Reported as
- Bellanca 8KCAB
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 616-80
- Airframe hours
- 1,343
- Engine
- Lycoming AEIO-360-H1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Lewis, Richard A.
- Registered owner
- Lewis, Richard A
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Aerobatic
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 29, 1988 · 117 hours before
- Departed
- 1C5 · Plainfield, IL
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
- 52
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,312 total · 333 in this make and model · 55 in the last 90 days · 22 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DPA, 14 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.