- Date
- June 16, 1990, 15:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Brainard, NE
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N3KJK. W. Jeffers Varieze
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 21, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900616021449A
- Case key
- 34866
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
Pilot used poor judgement in attempting aerobatics with inadequate altitude which resulted in loss of aircraft control. Contributing factors were a low pass performed, over confidence in personal ability and ostentatious display by the PIC.
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
After making a low, high speed pass, over a private airstrip, the homebuilt acft was observed to pull up, roll to the left about 180 degrees to an inverted attitude, then descend almost vertically to the terrain. No mechanical malfunctions or defects were discovered in the post accident investigation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3KJ
- Reported as
- K. W. Jeffers Varieze
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 848
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235 C2C, 115 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Rodney A. Malcomb
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- MLE · Omaha, NE
- Airport
- NONE
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
- 33
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 3,883 total · 269 in this make and model · 2,537 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 18 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- OLU, 23 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.