- Date
- November 23, 1989, 12:40 local (18:40 UTC)
- Place
- La Junta, TX
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N6031UChristen Industries Pitts S-2B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 9, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19891123046399A
- Case key
- 23004
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 delayed remedial action to recover from the spin and his misjudging of altitude.
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 pilot was performing aerobatic maneuvers over an open field. He accomplished a hammerhead stall & the aircraft was descending, when it started a right spin. Witnesses observed the pilot attempting to recover from the spin & heard the engine backfire several times before full power was applied. The airplane was then at a low altitude as the pilot was seen to recover and attempt to pull up. The airplane impacted in an open field in a 35 degree nose low attitude and near wings level position. No mechanical malfunction was noted during the investigation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6031U
- Reported as
- Christen Industries Pitts S-2B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 5122
- Engine
- Lycoming AEIO-540-D4A5, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Vernon C. Rawls
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Aerobatic
- Departed
- T67 · Fort Worth, 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
- 55
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 482 total · 92 in this make and model · 292 as pilot in command · 19 in the last 90 days · 13 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 18 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FWH, 5 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.