- Date
- August 13, 1989, 11:05 local (18:05 UTC)
- Place
- Carnation, WA
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N9RSSwanson RV-4
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 30, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890813029009A
- Case key
- 41062
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 entered an inadvertent stall and hit trees while performing aerobatics.
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
During a local pleasure flight, the airplane was observed to be performing high speed low passes in a valley before it began a loop maneuver. As the airplane completed the loop, it began to immediately climb and clear rising terrain. The airplane stalled and collided with trees before the pilot regained control. There were no reported mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane at the time of the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9RS
- Reported as
- Swanson RV-4
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 7
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2A, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Roger D. Swansen
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- S36 · Kent, WA
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
- 37
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Expired
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 1,350 total · 60 in this make and model · 1,350 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 20,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BFI, 14 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.