DEN93LA058

The pilot rolled the airplane inverted, then upright. The airplane pitched down and the pilot pulled the power back, half rolled the airplane, and pushed the control stick forward. When this failed, the pilot half rolled the airplane again and pulled the trim tab in an attempt to control the airplane's rate of descent. When this had no effect, the pilot jettisoned the canopy and he and the safety pilot bailed out. A similar incident had occurred several days before the accident. The instructor who had given the pilot instruction in the airplane surmised that unbeknownst to the two pilots, they had probably operated the controls against each other's input.

On May 14, 1993 at approximately 1245 mountain daylight time, N29RP, a Sukhoi SU-29, impacted terrain while performing aerobatic maneuvers 10 miles east of Fountain, Colorado. Both pilots parachuted to safety. The pilot in command received serious injuries and the safety pilot received minor injuries. The airplane was destroyed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight, and no flight plan was filed.

According to the pilot in command, they had been performing aerobatic maneuvers, including aileron rolls, slow rolls, Cuban 8's, and Immelmans. The pilot then rolled the airplane inverted.

After maintaining that attitude for about 10 or 15 seconds, he rolled the airplane upright. In his accident report, the pilot wrote, "At (that) point, the aircraft pitched straight down. I pulled the power back and half rolled to see if I could push the stick to initiate a climb. This failed so I half rolled again and pulled the trim tab in (an) attempt to control the aircraft's rate of descent. This had no effect." The pilot then jettisoned the canopy and both pilots bailed out. The safety pilot was unable to recall any details of the accident.

A Russian-built flight data recorder was recovered from the wreckage and sent to NTSB's Engineering Services Division for readout and analysis. After consulting with Soviet technicians, it was determined that the only data on the recorder was from previous flights and not from the accident flight.

The Federal Aviation Administration received a letter and report from the vice president of Pompano Air Center, worldwide distributor of Sukhoi sport aircraft, located in Pompano Beach, Florida. According to the report, Pompano Air Center's chief flight instructor had given the pilot approximately 20 hours of dual instruction in the airplane. The report also stated that these two pilots had experienced a similar situation in the airplane several days before the accident, but had managed to land safely. Post-incident inspection disclosed no evidence of flight control failure or malfunction. It was the company's opinion that unbeknownst to the two pilots, they had probably operated the controls against each other's inputs. Their report is enclosed.