- Date
- October 5, 1986, 12:15 local (17:15 UTC)
- Place
- Raymond, MS
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N124PKGriffin STAR-LITE
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19861005049789A
- Case key
- 31726
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 just completed building the acft and was on the initial flt. Family members watched as the acft tookoff and climbed over the arpt. They then observed pieces falling from the acft. The acft rolled inverted and crashed. An exam of the elevator bell crank revealed the plt had made an unapproved modification to the crank due to a contruction error by the plt which consisted of cutting the bottom off the crank and attaching 2 strips of aluminum to the crank with pop rivets. The elevators and stabilizers separated from the acft in flt. The upper and lower halves of the left elevator had separated and an exam revealed the bonding material was still soft and sitcky to the touch. The designer of the acft stated that flutter was created in the elevators by the modification resulting in failure of the tail components.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N124PK
- Reported as
- Griffin STAR-LITE
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 124
- Engine
- Rotax 447, 40 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- James Griffin Kirk, 3rd
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
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
- 41
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 3,057 total · 3,000 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- JAN, 13 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.