- Date
- January 20, 2025, 08:30 local (13:30 UTC)
- Place
- Orlando, FL · Door departed immediately after takeoff
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N976DRDaniel A Robinson High 6 Berkut 540
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Part(s) separation from AC
- 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
- Case key
- 199590
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 verify the canopy latches were in the locked position prior to takeoff.
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 reported that shortly after takeoff the canopy departed from the airplane. The pilot assessed that the propeller of the pusher-configured engine had been damaged based on the deceleration of the airplane and subsequently landed on the opposite direction runway without further incident. The airplane’s canopy was substantially damaged during the accident. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation, and that the accident could have been prevented by, “…verifying both canopy handles were in the locked position before takeoff.”
Aircraft
- Registration
- N976DR
- Reported as
- Daniel A Robinson High 6 Berkut 540
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- PP-007
- Built
- 2019
- Airframe hours
- 1,399
- Engine
- Lycoming Engines IO-540-D4A5, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Red 6 Technologies LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 12, 2025 · 0.1 hours before
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- ORL · Exec, runway 25, 6,004 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Electronic primary flight display, Onboard weather
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
- 42
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Private, Commercial, Military, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 5, 2024
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 1,845 total · 642.1 in this make and model · 1,420 as pilot in command · 42 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 12,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 43 °F, dew point 32 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.33 inHg
- Observed at
- ORL
- METAR
- METAR KORL 201353Z 36010KT 10SM OVC120 06/00 A3033 RMK AO2 SLP274 T00610000=
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 22, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.2 MB in all.