Taylorcraft BC12-D N43005

Summary

On 27 February 2004 at about 00:00 local time, a Taylorcraft BC12-D registered N43005, operated by Gregory Lawrence Heinze, was involved in an accident near Wrightsville, Arkansas, United States. 2 people were on board and one died, one was seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 February 2004 at 00:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Wrightsville, Arkansas, United States

Nearest airport

Private (PVT)

Coordinates

34.7167, -92.2242

Aircraft

Taylorcraft BC12-D

Registration

N43005

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Gregory Lawrence Heinze

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Wrightsville → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW04FA083

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed sufficient for flight resulting in an inadvertent stall/spin on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The 14,800-hour pilot and his pilot rated passenger were conducting touch-and-go landings on a private airstrip in the vintage airplane. After takeoff from the second touch-and-go landing, on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, a witness located adjacent to the accident site observed the airplane in a "left wing low, nose down" attitude. The nearby witness observed the airplane briefly on left downwind. In the next "instant," he observed the airplane in a "left wing low, nose down" attitude at an altitude of about 70 feet AGL.. The witness also recalled hearing the engine "rev up" prior to losing sight of the airplane below a tree line. According to entries in the pilot's logbook, he had accumulated a total of 19.7-hours in the accident make/model airplane. Evidence at the accident site showed that the airplane impacted the ground in a left wing down, nose low attitude. On site examination of the airframe and the engine did not reveal any anomalies that could have contributed to the accident. Examination of the airframe and engine maintenance logbooks did not reveal any pre-existing anomalies.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.