Stallings VARIEZE N23HS

Summary

On 20 August 2006 at about 01:21 local time, a Stallings VARIEZE registered N23HS was involved in an accident near Loveland, Colorado, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

20 August 2006 at 01:21

Classification

Accident

Location

Loveland, Colorado, United States

Coordinates

40.4686, -105.1264

Aircraft

Stallings VARIEZE

Registration

N23HS

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Longmont → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN06FA115

2 people died.

the pilot's intentional aerobatics performed at low altitude, and his failure to maintain clearance from terrain. A contributing factor was the pilot's poor judgment.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The two commercial pilots told a friend they were going to practice aerobatics, specifically, "loops and rolls." A witness, located two miles south of the accident site, saw the airplane fly over at low altitude. Another witness saw the airplane "spiraling in." A third witness saw the airplane making lateral "S" maneuvers before diving to the ground. All three witnesses said the airplane was at low altitude. A digital camera recovered from the wreckage showed four video clips of the pilot performing aerobatic maneuvers (rolls). An on-board GPS unit recorded the airplane's flight path from takeoff to accident. The last 1:30 minutes of the flight was expanded for examination. The last data point showed the airplane's ground speed as 68 knots.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.