- Date
- May 5, 1984, 15:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- La Marque, TX
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N31DFPitts Special S-1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19840505015709A
- Case key
- 21119
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
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Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The plt was scheduled to perform aerobatics in an air show. While maneuvering at about 300 ft AGL, the acft entered a nose high, steep left turn, stalled, then entered a 2 turn spin to the left. The plt recovered in a nose low, wings level attitude, but the acft impacted trees & the ground. No pre-impact part failure or malfuction was found. An investigation revealed the plt had started wearing soft contact lenses to correct her vision. No contact lenses were found in the wreckage & no lenses were noted in the medical examiners investigation. A pair of eye glasses were found in a bag in the cockpit.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N31DF
- Reported as
- Pitts Special S-1
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 473H
- Airframe hours
- 198
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Part 91
- Operator
- Michael L Frey Jr
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 31, 1984 · 7 hours before
- Departed
- 37R · Hitchcock, TX
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 34
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 410 total · 95 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 160° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,300 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GLS, 6 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.