- Date
- September 14, 1985, 13:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Mclean, TX
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N74LFPitts SPL. S-1
- Weather
- Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850914076509A
- Case key
- 21571
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 had landed the pitts special on the highway due to low fuel. After the fuel service the acft took off and the plt performed low altitude acrobatics then departed making slow rolls below a low overcast. A witness observed the acft flying low over the highway going toward rising terrain toward amarillo. The wreckage was located in a field. The acft had evidently stalled while in the low overcast after inadvertent entry by the non-instrument rated plt. Evidence indicated the acft had continued a spinning maneuver until surface impact. No evidence observed of acft or engine malfunction.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N74LF
- Reported as
- Pitts SPL. S-1
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 423-H
- Engine
- Lycoming I0320C1A, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Patrick Blake Sterling
- Registered owner
- Gordon J. Smith
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Unknown · October 11, 1984
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
- 28
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Toxicology
- Performed
Weather
- Conditions
- Day
- Visibility
- 1 statute miles
- Observed at
- AMA, 45 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.