DEN01FA152

Pilot-witnesses said the pilot was performing low-level aerobatics. As he pulled up into a near-vertical attitude he radioed, "My engine just quit." Smoke was seen coming from the engine cowling. The airplane appeared to do a tail slide, then it rolled left and nosed over. Witnesses surmised that the airplane stalled with insufficient altitude to recover. It struck the ground in a left wing-low, nose-low attitude. Wreckage was spread in a fan-shaped pattern. The pilot's wife (and his aerobatic partner) believed he was making a "yo-yo turn...essentially, a steep wingover." To test her theory, she later flew her airplane and performed several of these maneuvers. She found that she could cause the engine to quit by pulling up steeply, then pushing over into a dive for several seconds. Power would suddenly surge to 2,500 rpm. The pilot's wife surmised that the engine failed when he pulled up. As he recovered, the engine regained power and surged, and the resultant torque caused the airplane to roll. No anomalies were noted during the engine disassembly and inspection.

History of flight

On August 24, 2001, approximately 1930 mountain daylight time, a North American SNJ-5, N2686D, registered to and operated by SNJ Aviation Adventures LLC, was destroyed when it impacted terrain while in an uncontrolled descent 1/2-mile north of the Raton Municipal Airport, Raton, New Mexico. The airline transport certificated pilot and one passenger were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) Part 91. The flight originated at Raton approximately 1925.

On the morning of the accident, the airplane's mechanic flew with the pilot to Raton. He said that as the airplane was taking off from Coronado Airport in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he could hear the engine detonating.

There were no less than 12 witnesses to the accident, 7 of whom submitted written statements, including the accident pilot's wife (who flew a similar airplane in aerobatic routines with her husband), another T-6 pilot, a retired United Air Lines captain, and a YAK-52 pilot.

According to the T-6 pilot, he was in his airplane on the ramp. As he watched the SNJ-5 "descending to gain airspeed for [an] entry into a loop," he saw "blackish dark colored smoke coming from the exhaust area of the cowling." The airplane was then "climbing vertically. As [the airplane] approached the top of the loop, [the pilot] said, 'My engine just quit.'" The witness said the pilot turned the airplane "left and down toward the ground and gained enough airspeed to pull out at the bottom." He saw "only light residual smoke" coming from the airplane and he asked the pilot, "Are you okay," and the pilot replied, "I think so." He then looked away and did not see the impact.

According to the pilot's wife, she watched her husband make a pass over the runway and said the engine sounded "good." When she saw the airplane again, it was dropping behind a hill, "left wing down."

A retired United Air Lines captain and his wife were standing in front of the terminal building about a mile from the accident site. He said he had seen the pilot and his wife perform at another air show and was impressed with their conservative routine. At the time of the accident, it was dusk and depth perception was "in question for maneuvers close to the ground." The pilot performed "a loop with a very slow recovery...one with a mushing pull-up at the backside and bottom." Next, he did a "hammerhead" turn that alarmed him because the recovery, with a "mushing pull-up at the bottom," was initiated "far too low." As the pilot pulled up from this maneuver, the witness's attention was diverted but he heard the pilot's wife say, "What is he doing? He knows better than that." He looked back and saw the airplane flying north "with a very jerky rocking motion of the wings of maybe 10 to 30 degrees." The airplane made a left turn, "nosed over [and] went straight down, wings level." He said the nose started to come up again but then went straight down again. He surmised it was an attempt to recover from a stall that resulted in a secondary stall.

When the YAK-52 pilot saw the SNJ-5, it was "at the top of a maneuver... The pilot started what appeared to be a 45-degree down line to a loop or Cuban 8. At the bottom of the maneuver, I thought I saw a trail of smoke (fuel or oil). The engine did not sound like it was producing full power (SNJ props make a crackle at that speed). As the aircraft climbed to vertical, it was too slow to continue. It appeared to tail slide until the pilot could get enough airspeed to recover. At that point the aircraft was very close to the ground and I think it stalled and snapped into the ground."

One witness, a Skybolt pilot, saw the airplane "in a steep (near vertical) dive. It rolled about 1/4-turn while descending (similar to a cloverleaf maneuver with the 1/4-roll on the downturn. As it continued down, I noticed it 'twitch' in the roll axis 2 (or maybe 3) times, as if he was attempting to pull but didn't have sufficient speed. It continued in a steep dive and appeared to be recovering slightly" before disappearing behind a slight rise.

Another witness, also a Skybolt pilot, said the airplane made a "low pass down the runway" and rolled once. When it was west of the airport and parallel to the runway, it dove "to enter what appeared to be a loop." The airplane "stopped short at the top and did an apparent hammerhead and slid backwards (straight down, tail slide) before rotating towards the left wing and going nose down. The airplane recovered and started climbing out, then "entered what I thought was going to be a barrel roll or aileron roll." The maneuver was "entered from wings level, climbing flight...The aircraft entered a nose down attitude and did erratic turns, not complete spins" before disappearing below a small hill.

Personnel information

The 61-year-old former Delta Air Lines captain held an airline transport pilot certificate with an airplane multiengine land rating, type ratings in the Boeing 727, 757, 767, Douglas DC-9, and McDonnell Douglas MD-11, and commercial privileges in airplanes single-engine land, dated December 8, 1994; a flight engineer certificate with a reciprocating engine rating, dated August 17, 1967; an expired flight instructor certificate with an airplane single-engine rating, dated November 30, 1981; and a mechanic's certificate with airframe and powerplant ratings, dated January 25, 2000. His second class airman medical certificate, dated March 8, 2001, contained the restriction, "Must have available glasses for near vision."

According to documents submitted by Delta Air Lines, the pilot joined the company in October 1965, and took an early retirement in May 1997. His last proficiency check was dated November 30, 1999, and taken in the MD-11. At the time of his retirement, he had logged the following flight times as a captain:

MD-11--- 1,748:23

B-757/767 --- 3,432:02

B-727 --- 354:08

Total --- 5,534:33

According to the accident report submitted by his wife, she estimated his total flight time to be 22,000 hours, of which 1,141 hours were in single-engine airplanes and 653 of those hours were in the SNJ-5/T-6 type airplane. She estimated her husband had flown 73, 20, and 2 hours in the previous 90 days, 30 days, and 24 hours, respectively, all in the SNJ-5. His last biennial flight review was taken in the SNJ-5 on November 8, 2000.

Aircraft information

N2686D (s/n 91051), a model SNJ-5 (Navy, AT-6D Air Force), was built by North American Aviation Corporation on June 18, 1944. It was equipped with a Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN-1 engine (s/n ZP 101498), rated at 600 horsepower, and a Hamilton-Standard 2-blade, all-metal, constant speed propeller (m/n 12D40-31015).

According to the aircraft's maintenance records, the following inspections were performed:

Annual 100-hour

Date March 12, 2001 August 20, 2001

Hobbs Meter 969.0 hours 1,095.0 hours

Total Time, Airframe 8,170 hours 8,295.2 hours

Total Time, Engine 5,809.0 hours

Since Major Overhaul 588.8 hours

Meteorological information

The following METAR (Aviation Routine Weather Report) observation was recorded the Raton Municipal Airport 15 minutes before the approximate time of the accident: Wind, 150 degrees at 4 knots; visibility, 10 statute miles or greater; sky condition, clear; temperature, 25 degrees C. (77 degrees F.); dew point, 4 degrees C. (39 degrees F.); altimeter setting, 30.13. According to the U.S. Naval Observatory, official sunset was at 1937.

Wreckage and impact information

The debris path varied between magnetic headings of 224 and 206 degrees. The initial ground scar was 42 feet long, terminating at a large ground depression. Embedded in this depression was one of the propeller blades broken at the shank. The remainder of the wreckage was contained in an area that had bee