- Date
- March 29, 1989, 16:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Ponte Vedra Bch, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N81VALee, David Velocity
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 29, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890329007119A
- Case key
- 32415
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Failure through an oversight to remove the canard gap seals prior to aggravated stall testing which resulted in the aircraft entering an uncontrollable flight regime.
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 experimental amateur-built acft was on a test flt at 10,000 ft to perform some maneuvers with the CG at the most rearward limits. The acft was placed into an 'aggravated stall' during which the acft entered a 'deep stall'. All conventional & unconventional means of regaining control of the acft, including the plt climbing out of the cockpit & leaning as FAR fwd as possible, failed to recover control of the acft. At one point, the plt considered bailing out, but changed his mind due to the zero bank, zero fwd speed, zero yaw & slow descent toward the ocean. After the hard vertical impact, the plt released his harness & stepped into the water. The acft was recovered & an exam revealed that the canard gap seals which had been installed to enhance pitch authority of the canard on the prev flt, were still in place due to an oversight. With the gap seals installed, the canard pitch authority exceeded the authority of the wing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N81VA
- Reported as
- Lee, David Velocity
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- DM0043
- Airframe hours
- 110
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 91
- Registered owner
- Lee, David
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 20, 1989 · 15 hours before
- Departed
- SGJ · St. Augustine, FL
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
- 35
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 12,000 total · 20 in this make and model · 11,000 as pilot in command · 150 in the last 90 days · 50 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 12 knots, gusting 18
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CRG, 10 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.