- Date
- July 28, 2003, 17:10 local (21:10 UTC)
- Place
- Odessa, FL
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- UNREGTurkan Delta Wing Kite Trik
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 28, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- Case key
- 57606
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 improper assembly and failure to connect a bolt following an attempted modification that resulted in airframe malfunction, and uncontrolled descent, and an impact with the ground.
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 close friend of the pilot who witnessed the accident stated that the pilot had just finished installing a training bar, so that the aircraft could be controlled from the back seat when he was giving flight instruction, and the witness further stated that the pilot was taking the aircraft for a test flight. According to witnesses, during the flight, the aircraft departed to the west, and climbed to about 100 feet, when all of a sudden the wings folded up vertically, and the aircraft spun, descended, and impacted the ground. The witnesses also said that they did not notice any change in the sound of the engine throughout the flight's duration. An FAA inspector who responded to the scene of the accident stated that examination of the unregistered aircraft showed that the left hand attach fitting had not been properly attached to the left hand end of the horizontal control bar, which caused the wings to fold upward.
Factual narrative
On July 28, 2003, about 1710 eastern daylight time, an unregistered Turkan Trike aircraft, operated by a private individual as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, crashed in Odessa, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The pilot received fatal injuries, and the aircraft incurred substantial damage. The flight was originating at the time of the accident.
A close friend of the pilot who witnessed the accident stated that the pilot had just finished installing a training bar, so that the aircraft could be controlled from the back seat when he was giving flight instruction, and the witness further stated that the pilot was taking the aircraft for a test flight. According to witnesses, during the flight, the aircraft departed to the west, and climbed to about 100 feet, when all of a sudden the wings folded up vertically, and the aircraft spun, descended, and impacted the ground. The witnesses also said that they did not notice any change in the sound of the engine throughout the flight's duration.
An FAA inspector who responded to the scene of the accident stated that examination of the unregistered aircraft showed that the left hand attach fitting had not been properly attached to the left hand end of the horizontal control bar, which caused the wings to fold upward.
Aircraft
- Registration
- UNREG
- Reported as
- Turkan Delta Wing Kite Trik
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Engine
- Rotax M5446167, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Douglas P. Stanton
- Departed
- 3FD1 · Odessa, LA
- Airport
- Tampa Bay Executive, runway 26, 5,001 × 48 ft, asphalt
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 47
- Injuries
- Fatal
- Toxicology
- Performed
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.01 inHg
- Observed at
- TPA