- Date
- July 3, 1988, 07:20 local (11:20 UTC)
- Place
- Freehold, NJ
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N54472Rutgers Agriplane
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 10, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880703025139A
- Case key
- 35982
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 plt was working for a firm that was developing the experimental, light weight, crop duster in a joint venture with another firm. An acdnt occurred as he was operating the acft at the location of one of the firms. The plt stated that after takeoff, 'I was just flying, doing some turns. During my flight I felt my left wing go down. I tried to correct it using proper procedures and I wasn't able to. I went into a left turn spiral dive . . . And crashed. A witness rprtd he 'glanced' at the 'ultralight' before it crashed. According to him, the acft entered a steep dscnt before the 'wing tip hit the ground,' then the acft rolled over. Also, he said the plane appeared to be in a turn at the time. The plt rprtd that he had flown the acft about 9 times before the acdnt.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N54472
- Reported as
- Rutgers Agriplane
- Category
- Ultralight, amateur-built
- Serial number
- SAR0113XA
- Airframe hours
- 1
- Engine
- Rotax 532, 64 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 91
- Registered owner
- Farm Hopper, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 27, 1988 · 2 hours before
- Departed
- NONE · Freehold, NJ
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
- 26
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 1,569 total · 10 in this make and model · 5 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.