- Date
- July 15, 1987, 19:15 local (Jul 16, 1987, 00:15 UTC)
- Place
- Biddeford, ME
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3954DDubois Beta Bird
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 10, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870715043639A
- Case key
- 30455
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 pilot was practicing takeoffs and landings in his homebuilt aircraft. Directional control of the aircraft was lost after it touched down during a landing. Subsequently, it swerved off the side of the runway, went in an area of tall grass & hit a ditch, which sheared off the landing gear.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3954D
- Reported as
- Dubois Beta Bird
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Engine
- Volkswagen 1600CC, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Daniel A. Dubois
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 2, 1987 · 1 hours before
- Departed
- 6B1
- Airport
- B19 · Biddeford Muni, runway 6, 3,000 × 75 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
- 32
- Certificate
- Student
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 170 total · 45 in this make and model · 130 as pilot in command · 2 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.