- Date
- September 11, 1985, 19:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Okeechobee, FL
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N12HDJodel D-9
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850911047309A
- Case key
- 31263
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 plt had flown only 4 has in the last 6 months in a Cessna 150 type acft & had never flown a jodel 09 before. The plt boarded the acft, declined a cockpit check by the owner & made an immediate take off. The plt took off from the grass strip without performing any preflt check, eng run up or magcheck. The tailwheel equipped experimental acft was observed by 2 plt witnesses to make the entire take off run in a 3 point attitude. The acft climbed away from the ground in a very nose high attitude, leveled off, then enter a nose high attitude again. This erratic flt path was repeated several times before the acft was observed to enter a stall then spin to the ground from an alt of 150 to 200 ft. the owner of the acft described the acft as easy to fly but 'a little sensitive on the controls.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N12HD
- Reported as
- Jodel D-9
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 109
- Airframe hours
- 424
- Engine
- Lycoming O-145-B2, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Robert H. Knosp
- Registered owner
- Sam Mckeever
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 15, 1985 · 14 hours before
- Departed
- Okeeechobee, FL
- Airport
- NONE · River Acres, runway 15, 4,200 × 75 ft, grass/turf
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
- 58
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 500 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 120° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- VRB, 35 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.