# NTSB CHI97LA010: Dellicker Starduster TOO SA300, N7691, Eaton Rapids, MI, October 13, 1996 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Fatal · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: October 13, 1996, 14:59 local (18:59 UTC) - Place: Eaton Rapids, MI - Coordinates: 42.509269, -84.649307 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=42.5093&lon=-84.6493&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Initial climb](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/350) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: Fatal - Injuries: 2 fatal - Status: Completed, report August 29, 1997 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB case key (mKey): 10479 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=CHI97LA010 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/10479/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI97LA010 ## Probable cause the pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed and subsequent inadvertent stall of the airplane. A factor was the ostentatious display. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Abrupt maneuver, takeoff - initial climb - Loss of control - in flight, takeoff - initial climb - airspeed - inadequate, pilot in command (cause) - stall - inadvertent, pilot in command (cause) - ostentatious display, pilot in command (contributing factor) - In flight collision with terrain/water, descent - uncontrolled ## Analysis A private pilot, who was a witness to the accident, reported that he observed the airplane depart. 'After breaking ground contact, the airplane leveled off, gained airspeed, and then near the end of the runway, the pilot pulled up sharply into a steep climb. After a couple of hundred of feet of climb [the airplane] entered a steep right turn of approximately 45 degrees. The aircraft lost control and fell to the ground and crashed.' The witness reported that he did not hear any 'unusual' sound, and he believed the engine was at full power. A second witness reported that he noticed an airplane 'going 90 degrees straight up and straight down.' One propeller blade was bent near the root in the aft direction and exhibited minor torsional bending. The other blade exhibited minor 's' shaped bending. ## Factual narrative On October 13, 1996, at 1459 eastern daylight time, an experimental Starduster Too SA300, N7691, was destroyed when it impacted the terrain during the initial climb following takeoff from a residential airstrip in Eaton Rapids, Michigan. Witnesses reported that the pilot performed an aggressive pull up, and lost control of the airplane. The commercial pilot and one passenger sustained fatal injuries. The local, 14 CFR Part 91, personal flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan was filed. A private pilot, who was a witness to the accident, reported that he observed the airplane depart on runway 26 at the Skyway Estates Airport. " After breaking ground contact , the aircraft leveled off , gained airspeed, and then near the end of the runway the pilot pulled up sharply into a steep climb. After a couple of hundred of feet of climb [the airplane] entered a steep right turn of approximately 45 degrees. The aircraft lost control and fell to the ground and crashed." He reported that he did not hear any "unusual" sound and he believed the engine was at full power. A second witness reported that he was driving east on Columbia highway with his family. He noticed an airplane "going 90 degrees straight up and straight down. We continued to travel east... past a set of woods and we saw a plane had crashed in a field and was fully involved in fire." The wreckage was inspected by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Inspector. He reported that a ground scar led to the main wreckage 75 feet away, with "no evidence of the airplane skidding... . " The main wreckage was located in a plowed field approximately 100 feet west and 500 feet north of the departure end of runway 26. The airplane was "badly burned and very little remained of it... the push pull tubes and cables for the ailerons, rudder, and elevator were intact... ." One propeller blade was bent near the root in the aft direction and exhibited minor torsional bending. The other blade exhibited minor "s" shaped bending. An autopsy of the pilot was conducted at the Sparrow Hospital, 1215 E. Michigan, Lansing, Michigan 48909-7980. FAA toxicological testing was negative for all tests conducted except phenyltoloxamine and and pheniramine were detected in the blood and urine specimens and phenylpropanolamine was detected in the urine specimen. Phenyltoloxamine and pheniramine are nonprescription antihistamines and phenylpropanolamine is a nonprescription decongestant. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N7691](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N7691-1997-04-07), registration cancelled 1997-04-07, S/N 370 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Dellicker STARDUSTER TOO SA300 (STARDUSTER) - Registry model: [Dellicker STARDUSTER TOO SA300](https://openairdocs.org/model/dellicker-starduster-too-sa300) (registry code 8660228) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane, amateur-built - Serial number: 370 - Airframe hours: 720 - Engines: Lycoming O-540 250 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Destroyed - Fire: On-Ground - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Registered owner: Terry O. Thayer - Airworthiness certificate: Special, Experimental (Special) - Last inspection: Annual, June 1, 1996 - Departed: 60G ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 54; commercial; airplane ratings: single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 3, valid medical--no waivers/lim.; seat: rear; toxicology performed; flight hours: 2,630 total, 145 in this make and model, 22 in the last 90 days ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 220° at 9 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 72 °F, dew point 54 °F - Altimeter: 29.00 inHg - Observed at: TEW, 7 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 (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 19961013032009A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19961013032009A), Oct 13, 1996: Amtr SA300, Eaton Rapids, MI, Destroyed, 2 fatal. Aircraft attempting a barrel roll. Crashed and burned. (-23) aircraft was observed by pilot/witness taking off on runway 26 at Skyway Estates arpt, in Eaton… From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.