- Date
- October 26, 1999, 16:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Gainesville, VA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N70197Parsons Rans S-12
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 30, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19991026047009A
- Case key
- 47745
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's failure to maintain airspeed which resulted in an inadvertent 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.
Analysis
The pilot stated he was too slow and the airplane stalled during a right turn. He was unable to recover before the airplane impacted trees. The pilot did not report any mechanical problems with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On October 26, 1999, about 1600 Eastern Daylight Time, a homebuilt Rans S-12, N70197, was substantially damaged while maneuvering near Gainesville, Virginia. The certificated private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the flight that departed the Whitman Strip Airport, Manassas, Virginia. The local personal flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
In a written statement, the pilot said "...I made a right turn to the west. I was too slow and the right wing stalled. The aircraft spun, I corrected for the spin and tried to pull up, but it was to late and I went into the trees at about a 30-degree angle...."
The pilot did not report any mechanical problems with the airplane.
The pilot reported 377 hours of total flight experience, of which, 324 hours were in the make and model of the accident airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N70197
- Reported as
- Parsons Rans S-12
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 089227
- Airframe hours
- 325
- Engine
- Rotax 582, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Lester L. Parsons
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 19, 1999 · 1 hours before
- Departed
- 0V5 · Manassas, VA
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
- 44
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 377 total · 324 in this make and model · 324 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- HEF, 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.