MIA93LA193

NTSB accident investigation · Legrand Avid Flyer · Titusville, FL · September 9, 1993

Accident · Serious injuriesLimited investigationFinal report
Date
September 9, 1993, 13:56 local (17:56 UTC)
Place
Titusville, FL
Injuries
1 serious
Damage
Destroyed
Phase of flight
Approach
Aircraft
N2067VLegrand Avid Flyer
Weather
Visual (VMC) · Day
Status
Completed · report August 1, 1994
Report
Approved by Office Director
FAA report
19930909033729A
Case key
37393

From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.

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Probable cause

The pilot-in-command's failure to maintain airspeed (vso) in a go-around, resulting in an in-flight loss of control (stall).

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.

Loss of control - in flightGo-around (vfr)
Airspeed(vso) - not maintainedPilot in commandCause
Stall - inadvertentPilot in command
In flight collision with terrain/waterDescent - uncontrolled

Analysis

The commercial pilot was observed by a certified flight instructor (CFI) making a VFR approach for landing to a grass runway. The CFI stated the pilot appeared to have difficulty with the landing and initiated a go-around. The airplane was observed to make an immediate 90-degree left turn and reached about 50 to 100 feet agl. The left wing was observed to drop, the nose pitched down, and the airplane disappeared from view below the tree line colliding with the terrain.

Factual narrative

On September 9, 1993, at about 1356 eastern daylight time, a Legrand, N2067V, experimental homebuilt Avid Flyer airplane, registered to Waldo L. Gentry, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, crashed while maneuvering on a go-around. The airplane was destroyed and the commercial pilot was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated from Arthur Dunn Airpark, Titusville, Florida, at an undetermined time.

A certified flight instructor observed the airplane making an approach for landing to runway 22 in the grass. The flight instructor stated in a written statement to the NTSB investigator-in-charge that, "As we flew base leg I noticed that the avid flyer was having difficulty landing and executed an extremely poor go around by immediately turning 900 left after lift off and proceeded to "wallow" across the ramp and hangars until just east of the airpark when at an altitude of 50-100 feet above the trees, the left wing quickly dropped followed by the nose and the airplane disappeared below the trees."

NTSB Form 6120.1/2, Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report was mailed to the pilot-in-command on September 10, 1993. The report was returned to the NTSB investigator-in-charge on September 27, 1993, by the injured pilot's wife without being completed with the following statement: "Wally Gentry is in critical condition at Orlando Regional Medical Center and is unable to complete the enclosed form at this time."

Aircraft

Registration
N2067V
Reported as
Legrand Avid Flyer (AVID FLYE)
Category
Airplane, amateur-built
Serial number
277
Engine
Rotax 582, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
Damage
Destroyed
Flight
Personal · Part 91
Registered owner
Gentry, Waldo L.
Airworthiness certificate
Special, Experimental (Special)
Airport
X21 · Arthur Dunn Airpark, runway 22, grass/turf

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
60
Certificate
Commercial
Airplane ratings
Single-engine land
Medical
Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
Seat
Left
Flight hours
350 total

Weather

Conditions
Visual (VMC) · Day
Wind
250° at 8 knots
Visibility
7 statute miles
Lowest ceiling
None
Temperature
88 °F
Altimeter
30.00 inHg
Observed at
PIX, 7 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.