- Date
- November 18, 1990, 15:10 local (21:10 UTC)
- Place
- St. Francis, KS
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N53RBRobert Bressler Pitts S-1E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 8, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19901118050869A
- Case key
- 14808
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 aircraft control.
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 airplane was observed by three witnesses doing acrobatic maneuvers at low altitude for five minutes prior to the accident. Witnesses describe the airplane's last maneuver as a vertical climb until it stopped and fell off into an inverted spin. They all conclude their statements with the impression the pilot was attempting a recovery from the spin when the airplane collided with the ground.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N53RB
- Reported as
- Robert Bressler Pitts S-1E
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 8-0048
- Airframe hours
- 57
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A4M, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Bressler, Robert W.
- Registered owner
- R. W. Bressler/R. L. Young
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 29, 1990 · 57 hours before
- Departed
- 5K0 · Bird City, KS
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
- 47
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 3,160 total · 57 in this make and model · 3,080 as pilot in command · 102 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.