- Date
- May 24, 1986, 13:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Santa Fe, TX
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N80004Aerotek Pitts S2A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19860524019439A
- Case key
- 21906
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
A short occurred in the aircraft's electrical system distracting the owner/pilot occupying the back seat of the aircraft. This seat was not equipped with a second lap restraint. The aircraft was observed, by witnesses, to enter a spin which went inverted. The front seat pilot may have been able to reach the pedals but had no experience in the aircraft. The spin was stopped at an altitude too low to pull out, and it impacted the ground in a steep inverted attitude.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N80004
- Reported as
- Aerotek Pitts S2A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 2012
- Airframe hours
- 1,913
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1A, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- James R. Simons
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Aerobatic
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 3, 1985 · 29 hours before
- Departed
- Houston, TX
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
- 39
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Rear
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 4,433 total · 56 in this make and model · 4,389 as pilot in command · 60 in the last 90 days · 24 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 160° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- HOU, 17 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.