NYC93FA079

Witnesses observed the airplane complete two inverted flat spins. The third flat spin started at about 3000 ft MSL, and the airplane impacted the ground while still in the spin. No evidence of mechanical malfuntion was found. The pilot's blood alcohol level was 0.150%.

HISTORY of FLIGHT

On Saturday, April 10, 1993, at about 1847 eastern daylight time, an Aerotek Pitts S-2B, N5306N, piloted by Mr. Anton Satorious, collided with the terrain while performing maneuvers near his private airstrip, at North Benton, Ohio. The airplane was destroyed. The pilot and the one passenger were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan had been filed. The flight was being conducted under 14 CFR 91.

Witnesses saw the airplane complete two inverted spins. On the third inverted spin, the airplane impacted the ground nose first and inverted.

Several witnesses gave statements to the Ohio State Police. Mr. Thomas Warner, was at the pilot's home at the time of the accident and wrote in his statement:

...watched Anton [pilot] take off...along with a passenger Sue Maguire (also an acrobatic pilot) they then flew some acrobatic maneuvers. After about 20 min. [sic] the plane started a flat spin, possibly inverted. They had done several flat spins prior to this one. However this time the plane did not pull out to level flight. The spin started at around 3000' at my guess. It spun all the way to the ground...

Another witness, Mr. Brett Betz, said:

...aircraft was practicing inverted flat spins first and second flat spin were recovered by fifteen hundred and two thousand [feet above the

ground]. [A]third inverted flat spin was done. I

heard the power reduced to idle, the aircraft

tumbled...and went...[down in a] flat spin until

impact... [when asked, by the State Police, if the

engine stopped, Mr. Betz answered] no it was in idle as the previous spins...

A third witness, Michael Yoder, was in his front yard near the accident site and said:

...the plane went into a steep climb until the plane stopped in mid air and was upside down to the ground. The plane stayed upside down as it fell towards the ground spinning in a very tight circle...the plane rolled upright and then looked as if it was rolling onto its back again as I lost sight of it behind the trees...

The accident occurred during the hours of daylight at approximately 41 degrees, 12 minutes north, and 95 degrees, 30 minutes west.

Medical and pathological information

An autopsy was performed on Mr. Anton P. Satorious, on April 10, 1993, at the Medical Examiner's Office, in Ravenna, Ohio, by Dr. Roger Marcial. The autopsy revealed that the cause of death was, "...extreme head injury with comminuted fractures of the cranial vault and facial bones..."

The toxicological tests were conducted at the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA), Toxicology and Accident Research Laboratory, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and revealed, "... no drugs where found."

The toxicological report also revealed that:

...volatile concentration were determined by head space gas chromatography at a cutoff of 10 mg/dl. All positive ethanols were confirmed by Radiative Energy Attenuation...128.000 (mg/dl) Ethanol...Vitreous fluid...1.000 (mg/dl)Acetaldehyde...Vitreous fluid...31.000 (mg/dl)Ethanol...in Brain...105.000 (mg/dl) Ethanol...in Blood...2.000 (mg/dl) Acetaldehyde...in Blood...

Dr. Dennis Canifield, Manager Toxicology and Accident Research Laboratory, FAA, Oklahoma, said that the volatile concentrations listed above indicated that, "...the pilot was impaired..." at the time of the accident.

Additional toxicological tests were conducted on Mr. Satorious, by the State of Ohio, Crime Laboratory, Columbus, Ohio and revealed, "...alcohol .111% by weight +/- 5% of this value..."

An autopsy was performed on Mrs. Susan Maguire, on April 10, 1993, at the Medical Examiner's Office, in Ravenna, Ohio, by Dr. Roger Marcial. The autopsy revealed that the cause of death was, "...extensive skull fractures...multiple rib fractures with internal thoracic injuries..."

The toxicological tests were conducted at the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA), Toxicology and Accident Research Laboratory, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and revealed, "... no ethanol was found." A positive result was of "...52.200 (ug/ml, ug/g) Salicylate [analgesic- uses; reduces fever, inflammation and swelling] detected in Blood..."

Wreckage and impact information

The wreckage was examined at the accident site on April 11, 1993. The airplane impacted in a wooded area at an approximate elevation of 1070 feet mean sea level (msl). The airplane came to rest inverted, with the nose of the airplane magnetic heading of 190 degrees. Flight control continuity was established to all the flight controls except the elevator. An elevator push rod was found broken and was removed from the airplane. The rod was sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory, Washington, DC for analysis. The engine was examined at the accident site and no discrepancies were found.

Test and research

An examination of the elevator push rod was conducted at the NTSB Materials Laboratory, on May 20, 1993. According to the NTSB Laboratory's Factual Report:

...push rod was fractured through one of the rod end mounting studs...the fractured mounting stud appeared similar to the one on the opposite end of the rod...in which the stud is welded into the rod and a nut an internally threaded rod end are engaged. On the fractured stud, the nut and the rod end were still engaged on the separated end of the stud...the fracture occurred through the threaded portion of the stud between jam [sic] nut and the rod...the fracture was accompanied by large amounts of yielding and deformation of the threads. Optical examination of the fracture face revealed characteristics typical of a bending overstress separation...mating of the fracture faces established that the stud had bent at least 45 degrees before fracturing. The control rod also showed a slight bend in the same direction...

Additional information

The passenger in the airplane at the time of the accident, Mrs. Susan Maguire, was a rated pilot. Her husband told the Safety Board, that his wife was on this flight as a passenger, and that she was not familiar with this airplane.

The wreckage was released to the owner's friend, Mr. Lee Smith, on April 11, 1993. The elevator push rod was released to the owner's insurance company, on June 21, 1993.