Miller SLINGSHOT N97MS

Summary

On 3 December 2000 at about 19:30 local time, a Miller SLINGSHOT registered N97MS was involved in an accident near Kingwood, West Virginia, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

3 December 2000 at 19:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Kingwood, West Virginia, United States

Coordinates

39.4853, -79.6853

Aircraft

Miller SLINGSHOT

Registration

N97MS

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Valley Point → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC01LA050

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane, and subsequent collision with trees.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot departed the airport for a local flight and when he failed to return, a search was initiated for the airplane. The airplane was found 2 days later in a heavily wooded area 7 miles south of the airport. Examination of the airplane and an engine test run failed to revealed any mechanical deficiencies. Information downloaded from the pilot's GPS revealed the airplane departed the airport and flew southwest in a relatively straight line to the accident site. The last eight 'track points' indicated that the airplane initiated a gradual left turn from a heading of 272 degrees to 111 degrees. During the turn, the airplane's altitude decreased from 626 to 383 feet, and the airspeed decreased from 86 mph to 52.2 mph. Examination of the airplane's logbook revealed that it had accumulated 40 hours of flight time since it was certificated for flight on January 30, 1998. Examination of the pilot's logbook revealed about 125 hours of flight experience in the accident airplane, from February 15, 1998 to December 30, 1998.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.