- Date
- October 17, 2010, 18:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Rising Fawn, GA
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N49FPAntares MA-33M R582
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report June 8, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20101017053839A
- Case key
- 77927
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 student pilot's failure to relinquish control of the weight-shift control aircraft to the certified flight instructor, which resulted in an inadvertent stall.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The rear-seated student pilot was taking off in the experimental light sport weight-shift control airplane with a certified flight instructor (CFI) seated in the front seat. According to the CFI, the aircraft lifted off the runway and began to drift to the left toward an airport windsock. He told the student pilot that he was assuming control and attempted to correct the flight path and climb, but the student pilot remained frozen on the controls. The aircraft pitched up rapidly, stalled, and impacted the ground left wing first. The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The student pilot stated that he remained on the controls during the entire accident sequence and he was not aware that the CFI was attempting to assume control of the aircraft. The pilots reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions with the aircraft that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The rear-seated student pilot was taking off in the experimental light sport weight-shift control airplane with a flight instructor seated in the front seat. According to the flight instructor, the aircraft lifted off the runway and began to drift to the left toward an airport windsock. He told the student pilot that he was assuming control and attempted to correct the flight path and climb, but the student pilot remained frozen on the control bar. The control bar pressure then reversed, and the aircraft suddenly pitched up rapidly, stalled, and impacted the ground left wing first. The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The student pilot stated that he remained on the controls during the entire accident sequence and he was not aware that the flight instructor was attempting to assume control of the aircraft. Neither pilot reported any mechanical malfunctions during the flight. The flight instructor reported 308 hours of total flight experience, which included 17 hours in the same make and model as the accident aircraft. The student pilot reported that he had previously held a private pilot certificate and accumulated about 175 hours in single-engine airplanes, but he had not actively flown for about 24 years. At the time of the accident, he had accumulated about 5 hours in weight-shift control aircraft.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N49FP
- Reported as
- Antares MA-33M R582
- Category
- Weight-shift
- Serial number
- 80207
- Airframe hours
- 120
- Engine
- Rotax 582DCDI, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Lookout Mountain Flight Park
- Registered owner
- Lookout Mountain Flight Park
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental light sport (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · December 1, 2009 · 16 hours before
- Departed
- 0GE3 · Rising Fawn, GA
- Destination
- 0GE3 · Rising Fawn, GA
- Flight plan
- Unknown
- Airport
- 0GE3 · Lookout Mountain, runway 24, 2,000 × 50 ft
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 30
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificates
- Private, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 308 total · 17 in this make and model · 248 as pilot in command · 29 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 67
- Injuries
- Serious
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 175 total · 1 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- CHA, 15 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 26, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 674 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.