- Date
- April 27, 1996, 15:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Reidsville, NC
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N8040Aerotek Pitts S-2A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 11, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960427012009A
- Case key
- 38013
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 failed to maintain control of the airplane while performing an acrobatic maneuver.
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
According to the pilot, '[the] accident occurred immediately after inverted ribbon cut.' After cutting the ribbon the flight continued to descend and struck the runway while still inverted. The airplane slid off the left side of the runway into the grass, and caught fire as the pilot exited. No discrepancies were found with either the airframe or engine.
Factual narrative
On April 27, 1996, about 1500 eastern daylight time, an Aerotek Pitts S-2A, N8040 , registered to a private owner, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91, other work use, local flight, and crashed in the vicinity of Reidsville, North Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane was destroyed, and the commercial pilot received minor injuries.
According to the pilot, "[the] accident occurred immediately after inverted ribbon cut." After cutting the ribbon the flight continued to descend and struck the runway still inverted. The airplane slid off the left side of the runway into the grass, and caught fire as the pilot exited.
An FAA Inspector witnessed the accident and stated, "while monitoring the airshow...I observed the Pitts S2A...perform an inverted ribbon cut maneuver along Runway 13...after cutting through the ribbon, the aircraft continued its descent and contacted the runway surface while inverted."
An examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal any discrepancies, and the pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8040
- Reported as
- Aerotek Pitts S-2A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 2083
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1A, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Linsey B Hess
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Aerobatic; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 12, 1996 · 2 hours before
- Departed
- NC14
- Airport
- NC14 · Rockingham County, runway 13, 5,000 × 100 ft, asphalt
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
- 64
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Unknown
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 12,000 total · 1,300 in this make and model · 12,000 as pilot in command · 14 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 10 knots, gusting 14
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GSO, 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.