- Date
- May 17, 2013, 15:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- East Moriches, NY
- Injuries
- 5 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N8775XCessna 182D
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Miscellaneous/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 23, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- Case key
- 86945
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 inadvertent deployment of the skydiving instructor's drogue chute when he exited the airplane, resulting in it contacting and damaging the horizontal stabilizer.
Findings · 1
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
**This report was modified on 1/8/1014. Please see the public docket for this accident to view the original report.** According to the pilot, he leveled the airplane at 8,500 feet for a tandem skydive. When the instructor exited the airplane, the nose pitched up, then the airplane pitched over into a right, descending turn. The pilot assessed the situation and determined that the right horizontal stabilizer was bent. He later determined that the instructor's drogue chute became trapped under the flap handle, resulting in a premature deployment of the parachute. The drogue chute then caught the horizontal stabilizer, resulting in a 45-degree downward bend. The pilot reported no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
**This report was modified on 1/8/1014. Please see the public docket for this accident to view the original report.** According to the pilot, he leveled the airplane at 8,500 feet for a tandem skydive. When the instructor exited the airplane, the nose pitched up, then the airplane pitched over into a right, descending turn. The pilot assessed the situation and determined that the right horizontal stabilizer was bent. He later determined that the instructor's drogue chute became trapped under the flap handle, resulting in a premature deployment of the parachute. The drogue chute then caught the horizontal stabilizer, resulting in a 45-degree downward bend. The pilot reported no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8775X
- Reported as
- Cessna 182D
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18253175
- Engine
- Cont Motor O-470 SERIES, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Skydiving · Part 91
- Operator
- 516-Skydive
- Registered owner
- Murphy Frank E
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 1, 2012
- Departed
- 49N · East Moriches, NY
- Destination
- 49N · East Moriches, NY
- Airport
- 49N · Lufker Airport
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
- 34
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 11, 2011
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,208 total · 6 in this make and model · 1,030 as pilot in command · 96 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 8 knots, gusting 16
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.07 inHg
- Observed at
- FOK, 6 nm away
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 17, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.2 MB in all.
Other investigations on N8775X · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.