- Date
- October 21, 1990, 17:05 local (22:05 UTC)
- Place
- Prattville, AL
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N148DTDaniel S. Taylor Sonerai II LS
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 23, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19901021046479A
- Case key
- 32734
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
The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed. Factors were undetermined loss of engine power and lack of experience in type.
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
During the previous 4 mos, the eng was experiencing a hotter cylinder head temp of the lt rear cylinder than the rt. The eng cowling was modified to correct this but the problem continued. The cylinder heads which were previously removed were installed the day before the accident. The eng was run for 30 minutes with no discrepancies noted. The morning of the accident, the acft was serviced with fuel, the eng was checked, & the acft was flown twice around the traffic pattern. The temp problem continued. Attempts to correct this were unsuccessful during a subsequent flt around the pattern. The rt side of the cowling was modified. The flt departed & at an alt of 500 ft, the acft was observed in an uncoordinated lt turn. The acft stalled, descended lt wing low & crashed in a field. Exam of the acft revealed no flt control malfunction. Exam of the eng revealed evidence of a lean fuel/air mixture but the reason could not be determined.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N148DT
- Reported as
- Daniel S. Taylor Sonerai II LS (SONERAI II)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 0052LS
- Engine
- Volkswagen 2180CC, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Part 91
- Operator
- Olesen, James T.
- Registered owner
- Bieber, S.A./Olesen J/Green,P
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Airport
- IA1 · Autauga County, runway 9, 3,499 × 75 ft
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
- 20
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Rear
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 561 total · 21 in this make and model · 495 as pilot in command · 108 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 12,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MGM, 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.