Kollier PITTS S1C N87V

Summary

On 4 August 2000 at about 18:30 local time, a Kollier PITTS S1C registered N87V was involved in an accident near Salem, Indiana, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

4 August 2000 at 18:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Salem, Indiana, United States

Coordinates

38.5993, -86.0906

Aircraft

Kollier PITTS S1C

Registration

N87V

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI00LA239

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot failed to maintain control of the airplane during an intentional inverted flat spin and the initial control inputs he used in an attempt to recover were improper. A factor associated with the accident was the pilot became disoriented during the maneuver.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that while practicing aerobatics, he intentionally entered an inverted flat spin at 2,800 feet above ground level. The pilot reported that once the airspeed slowed to 80 mph, he added full forward stick and right rudder to enter the spin. He then added stick pressure in the direction of the spin and added power to make the spin flatten out. After one and a half turns, he neutralized the stick pressure and brought the power to idle. He then attempted to recover from the spin by adding left rudder followed by aft stick pressure. The pilot reported that although he did not recognize it at the time, he believes in hindsight, that the airplane then transitioned to a very nose low, accelerated upright spin in the same direction as the inverted spin. He reported that after approximately 15 turns, when he was unable to recover from the spin, he decided to let go of the flight controls. He reported that the spin remained steady and he still believed that he was inverted. He reported that just prior to impacting the terrain, he added right rudder and forward stick pressure. According to the pilot, the spin stopped with the airplane in a nose low attitude. The pilot reported that he added back stick pressure to raise the nose. The airplane impacted the ground in an upright attitude at high velocity after which it nosed over.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.