MIA03FA043

Two witnesses located in another airplane stated they observed N65906 in level flight, on a southerly heading, about 1,000 feet below them. N65906 then started a turn to the right and then suddenly nosed down to a near vertical attitude. The airplane was not spinning and the nose then went past the vertical to between 110 and 120 degrees. After losing about 75 percent of the altitude they observed something that appeared to be the size of a control surface separate from the airplane and the airplane began to spin. About 2 to 3 seconds later the airplane hit the ground. The outboard portion of the left wing, 10 feet in length, with the aileron still attached, was recovered approximately 150 feet to the east of the main wreckage. An outboard section of the right aileron, two feet in length, was located about 30 feet from the outboard portion of the left wing. Pieces of the left and right fiberglass wing tips were located about 800 feet east of the main wreckage along with papers from inside the airplane. The right wing remained attached to the airplane and was deformed downward and rearward. Flap actuator gear measurements indicate the flaps were in the 30 degree down position. The left wing had failed downward, and separated about 20 inches outboard of the wing strut attachment. The vertical and horizontal stabilizers, aft end of the fuselage, fractured piece of the elevator horn, fractured pieces of the control yokes, and the upper end of the right wing strut were sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory in Washington D.C. for further examination. Visual examination of the fractured faces of the components revealed features typical of overstress separation. No evidence of fatigue cracking or corrosion damage was noted during the visual inspection. No preexisting airframe failure was found that would have led to loss of control or inflight breakup. Recorded radar data obtained from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Daytona Beach Approach Control, showed the accident flight maintained 3,300 feet from 1221:45 until 1223:27. The flight was flying on a southerly heading during this time. Between 1223:32 and 1224:18, the flight maintains 3,400 feet while continuing to fly a southerly heading, and the calibrated airspeed (derived from radar groundspeed) dropped to 59 knots at 1224:15. Between 1224:22 and 1224:41, the flight maintained 3,500 feet, and the calibrated airspeed increased to 80 knots at 1224:30. At 1224:45, the flight was at 3,300 feet and at 1224:50, the flight was at 3,200 feet. Calibrated airspeed decreased to 65 knots. At 1224:55, the flight was at 3,300 feet, and the calibrated airspeed decreased to 60 knots. At 1224:59, the flight was at 3,300 feet, and the calibrated airspeed was about 58 knots. At 1225:04, the flight is at 3,200 feet and the calibrated airspeed is at 53 knots. The flight had maintained a southerly heading throughout this time. No further radar data was recorded for the accident flight. Radar data also showed that the airplane flown by the two witnesses was to the east of the accident airplane at 4,400 feet. Post mortem examination of the pilot, who was seated in the right front seat, and the left front seat passenger showed no findings which could be considered causal to the accident and toxicology studies were negative for alcohol, drugs, and carbon monoxide.

History of flight

On January 18, 2003, about 1225 eastern standard time, a Cessna 172P, N65906, registered to Central Florida Air Maintenance, Inc., and operated by Comair Aviation Academy, Inc., as a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, crashed near Edgewater, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and a company flight plan was filed. The airplane was destroyed and the commercial-rated pilot and three passengers received fatal injuries. The flight originated from Sanford, Florida, the same day, about 1203.

A pilot located in another airplane, to the east and 1,000 feet above N65906, stated he and his flight instructor "were flying some aerobatic maneuvers in our Pitts S2B N260AB. We had been traveling up and down the Intercoastal Waterway for about an hour or so. I gave the controls to Brian so he could fly a little; I believe we had just come out of a spin when we first caught sight of the plane. We were on a westerly coarse and the traffic was at our low 1 o'clock. Because it was so close we decided to watch and see what it was going to do. For some reason something in me said that there was something not right about the way the plane was flying, I do not know that it was, just something about it. As I watched I all of a sudden saw it kind of start to turn and then just snap into a dive very fast. As I looked on something separated from the wing, something large. A few seconds later the plane impacted the ground hard on an island in the Intercoastal." He stated as N65906 turned prior to the entry into the dive, it turned to the right. After the airplane entered the dive the wings were perpendicular to the beach with the top of the wings facing north. When the part separated from the airplane it was from the wing closest to the beach. When the airplane impacted the ground it was in a flat attitude, bottom side up. When they flew over the wreckage he noticed the wing to the west was missing the outboard section. As soon as they observed the accident the flight instructor called on the emergency frequency 121.5 MHz and reported the accident to the FAA Daytona Beach Approach. The weather was clear at the time of the accident.

The flight instructor stated "on Saturday Jan 18, around 12 noon, I was on an instructional aerobatic flight with an Embry Riddle Student. We were flying over the intercostal waterway (river) east of Edgewater FL between altitudes of 6000 and 3000 feet MSL. I was keeping my eye on another aircraft in my vicinity, which appeared to be a high wing single engine Cessna. The aircraft was at all times below me at around 500 to 1000 feet. I believe the aircraft was on a heading between about 190 and 230 degrees flying straight and level. I turned my head away for probably less than ten seconds and when I looked back at the Aircraft it was in a nearly vertical down attitude a few hundred feet lower than when I initially spotted the aircraft and on a heading of around 270 (I believe the back side of the wings were paralleling the beach). NOTE: I was using the Beach as a North-South Reference to determine headings. The aircraft was not in a spin at this time and appeared to be "pushing" farther beyond vertical (past 90 degrees straight down possibly up to 110-120 degrees). I thought, "what are they doing, it looks like they are trying to fly up-side down." The next thing I witnessed was a forced spin similar to a snap roll while still vertical down. I also saw some pieces come off the aircraft the biggest being what looked like the size of a control surface or flap. Unfortunately, I do not recall which event came first, the spin, or the pieces coming off the aircraft. This event happened after the aircraft lost about 75% of its altitude. About 1-3 seconds after the spin the aircraft impacted an island in the river. I am guessing that from when I saw the aircraft going straight down until the time it hit was about 5-7 seconds. I continued to orbit the area while making an emergency call on 121.5 MHz." He did not recall any turbulence in the area at the time.

A witness located on a boat about 200 yards from the accident site stated it was sunny with good visibility and the wind was at 10 mph at the most. A stunt airplane had been flying overhead throughout the morning. About 1200, the tide was going out. He was facing southwest to west. He heard the stunt airplane but he also heard another airplane engine, which was running, followed by the sound of impact. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something fall. He also heard a sound similar to a kite with a tail flapping. He saw some debris fly up after impact. He then went to the scene in his boat. Another airplane was circling overhead. He approached the airplane wreckage and observed one person and then went to the ranger's station to the east to report the accident.

Another witness located in a recreational vehicle (RV) park to the west of the accident site stated she was watching an aerobatic airplane to the east. She then saw another airplane to the northeast going straight down. One wing tip was pointing to the southeast and the airplane was not spinning. She could not see the registration numbers and then went back inside. She heard about the airplane accident the next morning.

Another witness located on a boat 1/2 mile east of the accident site reported seeing a bi-plane to his left, which was also loud. He then saw the accident airplane to his right. The accident airplane was nose down, not vertical, and he then observed it hit the ground and he observed a dust cloud. He then observed something coming down in a circular motion. The accident airplane was making a very loud high pitched noise.

Recorded radar data obtained from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Daytona Beach Approach Control, showed the accident flight maintained 3,300 feet from 1221:45 until 1223:27. The flight was flying on a southerly heading during this time. Between 1223:32 and 1224:18, the flight maintains 3,400 feet while continuing to fly a southerly heading, and the calibrated airspeed (derived by applying estimated winds aloft to radar derived ground speed) dropped to 59 knots at 1224:15. Between 1224:22 and 1224:41, the flight maintained 3,500 feet, and the calibrated airspeed increased to 80 knots at 1224:30. At 1224:45, the flight was at 3,300 feet and at 1224:50, the flight was at 3,200 feet. Calibrated airspeed decreased to 65 knots. At 1224:55, the flight was at 3,300 feet, and the calibrated airspeed decreased to 60 knots. At 1224:59, the flight was at 3,300 feet, and the calibrated airspeed was about 58 knots. At 1225:04, the flight is at 3,200 feet and the calibrated airspeed is at 53 knots. The flight had maintained a southerly heading throughout this time. No further radar data was recorded for the accident flight. Radar data also showed that the airplane flown by the two witnesses was to the east of the accident airplane at 4,400 feet.

Personnel information

The pilot held a FAA commercial pilot certificate with airplane single and multiengine land and instrument airplane privileges, last issued on October 12, 2002. The pilot held a FAA flight instructor certificate with airplane single engine privileges issued on December 30, 2002. The pilot held a FAA first-class medical certificate issued on February 25, 2002, with limitations that corrective lenses be worn while exercising the privileges of the certificate. According to information provided by the airplane operator and the pilot's logbook, at the time of the accident the pilot had accumulated about 295 total flight hours, with about 120 hours in the Cessna 172. The pilot had about 266 total flight hours in single engine airplanes. The pilot had about 61 hours simulated instrument time, about 7 hours actual instrument time, and about 26 hours of night time. The pilot had flown about 42 hours in the last 90 days, about 14 hours in the last 30 days, and about 1