- Date
- July 20, 1986, 10:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Big Creek, ID
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N3HWWeiss-Haynes Stits SA6B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19860720034369A
- Case key
- 40290
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
N3HW, a stits SA6B, was being flown from an airstrip with a density altitude of about 7,800 feet. The plt lost control of the acft during initial climb and the acft descended into the trees, struck the ground, and caught fire. The plt stated that during climbout it felt like the controls weren't responding to his inputs and that they were sluggish even though, during the runup, the controls had responded normally. The plt had about 350 hours of total flight time. The plt had flown into this airport before but never in the stits SA6B. The acft was over the manufacturers maximum allowable gross weight with an aft center of gravity (c.g.). The kit manufacturer states that an aft c.g. will produce sluggish control responses. Trees were present at the end of the airstrip and a slight tailwind was present.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3HW
- Reported as
- Weiss-Haynes Stits SA6B
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 777
- Airframe hours
- 110
- Engine
- Continental C-85-12, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Weiss, William O.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- U60 · Big Creek, ID
- Airport
- U60 · Big Creek Airport, runway 3, 3,550 × 110 ft, grass/turf
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 55
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Expired
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 350 total · 80 in this make and model · 300 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.