- Date
- August 7, 1990, 20:45 local (Aug 8, 1990, 01:45 UTC)
- Place
- Kingman, KS
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N4509Harper Volksplane WE-1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report November 9, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900807031019A
- Case key
- 14739
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
Failure of the pilot in command to maintain airspeed resulting in an inadvertent stall 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
Shortly after takeoff the aircraft turned onto a right downwind, and was observed in a nose down attitude, then disappeared from view. The acft subseqently collided with the terrain in a nose down, right wing low attitude.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4509
- Reported as
- Harper Volksplane WE-1 (VOLKSPLANE)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 93029
- Airframe hours
- 513
- Engine
- Volkswagen, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Peterson-Crow
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 30, 1990
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
- 26
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 2,743 total · 15 in this make and model · 1,951 as pilot in command · 190 in the last 90 days · 50 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 130° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ICT, 40 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.