- Date
- July 5, 2003, 14:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Manti, UT
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N6687Pringle Rans S-7 Courer
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 25, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Salt Lake City Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20030705012649A
- Case key
- 57400
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 pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed which resulted in a stall. Low altitude flight and high density altitude are contributing factors.
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 pilot said he made a low pass over a reservoir. According to the pilot, the wind was from the west and the outside temperature was greater than 100 degrees F. He pulled up in a climbing right turn from west to east and the airplane stalled. He attempted to recover but there was insufficient altitude. The airplane impacted 2-feet deep water approximately 20 feet from shore.
Factual narrative
On July 5, 2003, approximately 1430 mountain daylight time, N6687, a Pringle Rans S-7 Courer, was destroyed when it impacted the Gunnison Reservoir near Manti, Utah. The private pilot was seriously injured and his passenger received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The local flight originated at Mount Pleasant, Utah, approximately 1400.
According to the pilot's accident report, he made a low pass over the Gunnison Reservoir. The wind was from the west and the outside temperature was greater than 100 degrees F. The pilot pulled up in a climbing right turn from west to east and the airplane stalled. The pilot said he "made a descent from about 150 feet to recover from the stall and tried to pull up before impact with the water but was unable. The [air]plane hit 20 feet off shore in about 2 feet of water."
Witnesses corroborated the pilot's story, but said the airplane made multiple low passes over the reservoir at altitudes between 10 and 30 feet. One witness said the airplane was about 10 feet high when one of its wings contacted the water and the airplane "flipped over." The accident was also captured on videotape by a bystander.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6687
- Reported as
- Pringle Rans S-7 Courer
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 0995156
- Airframe hours
- 690
- Engine
- Rotax 912ULMK-TW, 80 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 17, 2002 · 190 hours before
- Departed
- 43U · Mount Pleasant, UT
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
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3
- Last flight review
- November 1, 2002
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 300 total · 100 in this make and model · 280 as pilot in command · 35 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.02 inHg
- Observed at
- PVO
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.