Unknown FREE BIRD SPORTLITE N75474

Summary

On 27 January 2008 at about 22:30 local time, a Unknown FREE BIRD SPORTLITE registered N75474 was involved in an accident near McCullough, Alabama, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 January 2008 at 22:30

Classification

Accident

Location

McCullough, Alabama, United States

Coordinates

31.1667, -87.5250

Aircraft

Unknown FREE BIRD SPORTLITE

Registration

N75474

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

McCullough → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC08LA087

1 person died.

The non-certificated pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control while maneuvering. Contributing to the accident was the non-certificated pilot's improper decision to conduct a flight prior to the airplane being properly inspected and certified.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot owned the accident airplane, but had not yet obtained a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) sport pilot certificate. Further, the airplane had not been inspected and certified as an experimental light sport aircraft. A witness observed the accident airplane depart a private turf airstrip and fly around the local area. About 30 minutes later, the airplane impacted a field nose down near the departure airstrip. Most of the airplane was consumed by a postcrash fire; however, flight control continuity was confirmed. The airplane was equipped with a heavy engine, respectively, which may have created an aft center of gravity (CG) condition. Such circumstances would require modification to move the CG forward, prior to completing certification. The pilot had accumulated about 25 hours of flight instruction, and had soloed, but had not completed a long cross-country flight. Several months before the fatal accident, the pilot was involved in a prior accident in the same airplane. The prior accident occurred during a high-speed taxi, in which the airplane accidentally became airborne. The pilot was subsequently advised by a designated airworthiness representative, and a flight instructor, not to fly the airplane until it was certificated, and the pilot received a sport pilot certificate.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.