- Date
- October 15, 1984, 12:00 local (16:00 UTC)
- Place
- Punta Gorda, FL
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N54JBPitts Special S-1C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19841015056199A
- Case key
- 31204
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 acft was being tested for hi-speed taxi stability. During the 3rd taxi run the acft became airborne and a decision to continue flt around the traffic pattern was made. The plt noticed the oil temp at 220 degrees & increasing. The decision to land on rwy 21 was abandoned in favor of 15 to shorten the traffic pattern. The plt advanced the throttle onthe idling eng but there was no response. The acft descended and collided with a 25 ft tree. The acft crashed to the ground 1000 ft from the apch end of rwy 15. The injured plt and his wrecked acft were searched for when he did not return. The search party located the acft & plt at aprx 1515 EDT, about 3 hrs after initial takeoff. No evidence of any failure or malfunction was found in the acft eng or controls.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N54JB
- Reported as
- Pitts Special S-1C
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 400
- Airframe hours
- 1
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- James W. Bryan
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 1, 1984 · 13 hours before
- Departed
- PGD · Punta Gorda, FL
- Airport
- PGD · Charlotte County, runway 15, 5,000 × 150 ft, asphalt
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
- 54
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 150 total · 1 in this make and model · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FMY
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.