- Date
- May 29, 2005, 17:00 local (May 30, 2005, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Sandy, OR
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N548AFFisher Mini Max 1300
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 13, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20050529010799A
- Case key
- 61686
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 inadequate preflight (his inability to get full elevator down deflection with the flight control stick with shoulder harness and seat belt on) and subsequent loss of aircraft control which resulted in a stall/spin into the trees. Contributing factors were the lack of familiarity with the aircraft and the lack of pilot certification.
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 said he had just purchased the zero-time aircraft. He said that a friend test flew it for approximately 40 minutes. The pilot said that he preflighted the airplane, but did not have a check list. He said that after he strapped himself into the single seat cockpit, he maneuvered the flight controls, but does not believe that he got the stick full forward. The pilot said that while ground testing the aircraft, he could not get the tail wheel to rise. He increased the speed in an attempt to raise the tail wheel, and the aircraft became airborne. He said that when he got to approximately 50 feet, the aircraft stalled to the right into some trees and brush. Both wings broke in half and the bottom of the fuselage broke out from under the pilot. The pilot had approximately 40 hours of flight training in 1989; he was not a certificated pilot. The pilot said that because of his seat belt and shoulder harness, he could not get full forward deflection of the control stick.
Factual narrative
On May 29, 2005, at approximately 1700 Pacific daylight time, a Fisher, Mini Max 1300 experimental homebuilt, N548AF, was substantially damaged when it impacted trees immediately after takeoff near Sandy, Oregon. The non-certificated pilot, the sole occupant in the airplane, was not injured. The flight was being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local flight that was originating at the time of the accident. The pilot had not filed a flight plan.
The pilot said he had just purchased the zero-time aircraft. He said that a friend test flew it for approximately 40 minutes. The pilot said that he preflighted the airplane, but did not have a check list. He said that after he strapped himself into the single seat cockpit, he maneuvered the flight controls, but does not believe that he got the stick full forward.
The pilot said that while ground testing the aircraft, he could not get the tail wheel to rise. He increased the speed in an attempt to raise the tail wheel, and the aircraft became airborne. He said that when he got to approximately 50 feet, the aircraft stalled to the right into some trees and brush. Both wings broke in half and the bottom of the fuselage broke out from under the pilot.
The pilot had approximately 40 hours of flight training in 1989; he was not a certificated pilot. He did say that approximately 1 to 2 years ago, he had flown in a small airplane with a friend. The pilot said that because of his seat belt and shoulder harness, he could not get full forward deflection of the control stick.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N548AF
- Reported as
- Fisher Mini Max 1300
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- MK482
- Airframe hours
- 1
- Engine
- Rotax 337, 35 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Marty Miller
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- 03S · Sandy, OR
- Destination
- 03S
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
- 47
- Injuries
- None
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 40 total · 40 in this make and model · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TTD, 11 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.