- Date
- May 2, 1982, 18:45 local (23:45 UTC)
- Place
- Adel, IA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N560AStarfire JRF
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 2, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820502012959A
- Case key
- 69688
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 owner/pilot of the home built aircraft was practicing touch-and-go landings. While climbing after the second touch-and-go, the left wing separated and the aircraft crashed about 3/4 mile south of the airport. A witness reported that on one of the landings, the plane hit rather hard; reportedly, he could tell that it hit hard by the noise it made. An examination of the left wing revealed that the wooden main spar had broken near the end of the fuselage carry through. There was no evidence of deterioration of the wood in the vicinity of the break. The main gear on this aircraft did not incorporate a shock strut. The main landing gear was attached to the wing spar and the tires absorbed shock during landings and ground operations.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N560A
- Reported as
- Starfire JRF
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 22
- Airframe hours
- 1,290
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2A, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Duane E. Dekock
- Registered owner
- Duane E. Dekock
- Departed
- K25 · Adel, IA
- Destination
- K25 · Adel, IA
- Airport
- K25 · Husband, runway 17, 2,650 × 250 ft, 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
- 48
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 348 total · 19 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 12 statute miles
- Temperature
- 163 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DSM, 22 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.