- Date
- September 26, 2023, 15:51 local (19:51 UTC)
- Place
- Sanford, FL
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N708WCDorr Dan W Sequoia F.8L Falco
- Defining event
- Takeoff-rejected takeoff: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20230926016759A
- Case key
- 193148
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 airplane control after an engine access cover opened during the initial climb.
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 pilot performed a preflight inspection before he initiated the startup and taxi without any anomalies noted. During the initial climb after takeoff, about 100 ft above ground level over the runway, an engine compartment access cover opened. The pilot called the air traffic control tower and was cleared to land on a parallel runway. The pilot continued in the traffic pattern, but slowed the airplane in hopes that the access cover would not detach. The pilot became focused on the open cover and let the airspeed decrease, which resulted in a buffet, the left wing dropping, and the airplane “[falling] out of the sky.” The airplane subsequently impacted a taxiway and came to rest on the parallel runway, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage and left wing. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. He also stated that he, “…focused way too much on the open engine cover and way too little on flying the airplane… The result was classic stall/spin scenario too close to the ground.”
Aircraft
- Registration
- N708WC
- Reported as
- Dorr Dan W Sequoia F.8L Falco
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1046
- Built
- 2003
- Airframe hours
- 675
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-B1E, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special); Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Condition · August 1, 2023 · 20 hours before
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- SFB · Orlando Sanford Intl, runway 9L, 11,002 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display, Electronic multifunction display, ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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
- 72
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 22, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 1,875 total · 167 in this make and model · 1,875 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.98 inHg
- Observed at
- SFB, 1 nm away
- METAR
- KSFB 261953Z 18008KT 10SM FEW035 32/23 A2998 RMK AO2 SLP151 T03220233
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 16, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 9.2 MB 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.