- Date
- April 21, 1991, 15:40 local (20:40 UTC)
- Place
- Panama City, FL
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N32FRutan Aircraft Factory Vari EZE
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 8, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910421011559A
- Case key
- 32852
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-in-command misjudged his altitude while conducting an aerobatic maneuver, resulting in an in flight collision with water.
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 departed on a VFR flight in VFR conditions. No flight plan was filed. The plt was observed by witnesses prior to the accident buzzing houses, treetops, and flying low above the ocean. At the time of the accident the airplane was observed traveling northbound toward the shoreline at 50 to 60 feet AGL. The airplane was observed to make a vertical climb, and then the nose tilted towards the west in a descent, and the airplane was heading eastbound when it collided with the ocean. The airplane was destroyed. The commercial plt was killed. Examination of the airplane structure, propeller, flight controls, engine and accessories revealed no evidence to indicate precrash mechanical failure or malfunction.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N32F
- Reported as
- Rutan Aircraft Factory Vari EZE
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- C1AMA1
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Walter C. Sherman
- Registered owner
- Walter C. Sherman
- Departed
- PFN
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
- 25
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 700 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Observed at
- PFN, 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.