- Date
- September 5, 1993, 11:00 local (16:00 UTC)
- Place
- Palo Pinto, TX
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N53JSMascola Christen Eagle II
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 30, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930905032949A
- Case key
- 18825
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 intentional stall at an altitude insufficient to allow a safe recovery.
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 scheduled to perform in an air show later on the day of the accident. He took off from the airport and proceeded to an uninhabited area to practice aerobatic maneuvers prior to his official demonstration. A witness saw the aircraft enter a hammerhead stall, spin, and then recover. The airplane then entered a second hammerhead stall at low altitude and was in an almost vertical nose down attitude when it disappeared from view.
Factual narrative
On September 5, 1993, at approximately 1100 central daylight time, N53JS, a Mascola Christen Eagle II, impacted terrain about three miles north of Palo Pinto, Texas, during aerobatic maneuvers. The airplane was destroyed and the airline transport rated pilot was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight.
The pilot was scheduled to perform in an air show later that day.
He took off from the airport and proceeded to an uninhabited area to practice aerobatic maneuvers prior to his official demonstration. A witness told a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector he saw the airplane enter a hammerhead stall, then spin. The airplane entered a second hammerhead stall at an altitude of approximately 900 feet AGL (above ground level), spin, and disappear behind a small hill. When the witness last saw the airplane, it was in an almost vertical attitude. The witness, who holds a private pilot license, is familiar with aerobatic maneuvers, having performed them in a Beech T-34. The witness also submitted a written statement and it is attached as an exhibit to this report.
The FAA inspector submitted a statement describing his on-scene investigation and is attached as an exhibit to this report.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N53JS
- Reported as
- Mascola Christen Eagle II (CHRISTEN E)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 0001
- Airframe hours
- 217
- Engine
- Lycoming AEIO-360, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Siegel, Jon H.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Unknown · August 20, 1993 · 3 hours before
- Departed
- MWL · Mineral Wells, 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
- 30
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Rear
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 8,500 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MWL, 13 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.