- Date
- April 13, 1988, 11:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Lakeland, FL
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N20RFFischer STAR-LITE
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 13, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880413046539A
- Case key
- 32162
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 owner/manufacturer of the homebuilt acft repaired the horizontal stabilizers, then asked the designer to test fly the aircraft. After takeoff, at an alt of aprx 7,000 feet MSL, in a nose low attitude, at 158 mph ( 28 mph greater than vne) both horizontal stabilizers separated. The nose of the aircraft pitched down, after which the wings failed negatively. The pilot parachuted to the roof of a house, then was pulled to the ground when the canopy was reinflated by the wind. The aircraft collided with terrain and came to rest near a residence with no property damage. According to the designer, the owner should have separated the two stabilizers into four sections, applied epoxy to the inside of each, as well as to the aluminum spar, then assembled them.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N20RF
- Reported as
- Fischer STAR-LITE
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 131
- Airframe hours
- 90
- Engine
- Rotax 447, 40 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Part 91
- Registered owner
- Robert L. Fischer
- 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
- 36
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 1,742 total · 228 in this make and model · 1,680 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 14 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LAL, 5 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.