- Date
- September 25, 1979
- Place
- Lake Wales, FL · LAKE WALES, FL
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N78PDVarieze Rutan
- Status
- Completed · report March 4, 1980
- Report
- Brief approved by the director
- FAA report
- 19790925030199A
- Case key
- 132741
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
NTSB brief
NTSB’s brief of the accident, as it was printed: the coded facts, with the probable cause and factors.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FILE DATE LOCATION AIRCRAFT DATA INJURIES FLIGHT PILOT DATA F S M/N PURPOSE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3-3804 79/9/25 LAKE WALES,FL VARIEZE RUTAN CR- 0 1 0 NONCOMMERCIAL PRIVATE, AGE 58, 6000 TIME - 1415 N78PD PX- 0 0 0 PLEASURE/PERSONAL TRANSP TOTAL HOURS, 23 IN TYPE, DAMAGE-DESTROYED OT- 0 0 0 NOT INSTRUMENT RATED. NAME OF AIRPORT - LAKE WALES DEPARTURE POINT INTENDED DESTINATION LAKE WALES,FL LOCAL TYPE OF ACCIDENT PHASE OF OPERATION STALL TAKEOFF: INITIAL CLIMB PROBABLE CAUSE(S) PILOT IN COMMAND - SPONTANEOUS-IMPROPER ACTION PILOT IN COMMAND - FAILED TO OBTAIN/MAINTAIN FLYING SPEED FACTOR(S) AIRFRAME - FUSELAGE: WINDSHIELDS,WINDOWS,CANOPIES REMARKS- PLT RETARDED THROTTLE WHEN CANOPY BLEW OPEN ON INITIAL CLIMB FOR UNK REASON.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N78PD
- Reported as
- Varieze Rutan
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Engine
- reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Airport
- Lake Wales
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.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.