- Date
- April 3, 1990, 18:35 local (Apr 4, 1990, 01:35 UTC)
- Place
- Eloy, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N104KFGardner Pitts S-1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 21, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900403007439A
- Case key
- 26623
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 delayed the recovery from the inverted flat spin maneuver and misjudged his 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 plt was practicing aerobatics for an upcoming airshow. He landed at Eloy arpt after he had completed one acrobatic sequence. The airshow's narrator, an eminently qualified acrobatic performer, told the pilot that his recovery from the final inverted flat spin maneuver began at too low an altitude. The plt told the narrator that he intended to use an oil filled smoke solution during the recovery from the flat spin maneuver. The narrator cautioned the plt against using smoke during the maneuver, but the plt stated that it enhanced the maneuver from a spactator point of view. The plt departed Eloy and began another acrobatic sequence. The plt entered the final maneuver, an inverted flat spin with the smoke on. This time however he began the recovery at 500 ft, abt 300 ft lower than his previous recovery. The airplane rolled out to the rt-side-up position, but the airspeed was insufficient to arrest the rapid vertical speed descent. The wreckage exam dsclsd no evidence of any airplane/eng. Malfunction or failure.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N104KF
- Reported as
- Gardner Pitts S-1
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- FH-1
- Airframe hours
- 420
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Ferguson, Kenneth M.
- Registered owner
- Ferguson, Kenneth M
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 13, 1989 · 53 hours before
- Airport
- E60 · Eloy
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
- Certificates
- Private, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 2,138 total · 112 in this make and model · 1,379 as pilot in command · 164 in the last 90 days · 54 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.