From Here To There Pdq RV-8 N98AW

Summary

On 16 August 2009 at about 19:11 local time, a From Here To There Pdq RV-8 registered N98AW, operated by Todd E. Eslick, was involved in an accident near Tea, South Dakota, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

16 August 2009 at 19:11

Classification

Accident

Location

Tea, South Dakota, United States

Coordinates

43.4464, -96.8375

Aircraft

From Here To There Pdq RV-8

Registration

N98AW

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Todd E. Eslick

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tea → Tea

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN09LA523

2 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane during recovery from an aerobatic maneuver.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Witnesses reported seeing the airplane perform a maneuver similar to a hammerhead stall. The airplane recovered and then entered a second similar maneuver. One witness reported that during that second maneuver, as the airplane began to descend, the engine made a popping noise and sounded like it lost power. The witness said that the airplane was doing a “twirling effect” until it impacted the terrain. Another witness said that he saw the airplane climbing until it was “almost standing still, then it cut left” and entered a 45-degree nose-down spin. He reported that after the first or second spin he heard the engine “cut out then backfire about 3 times and then it sounded like it quit.” The witness stated that the airplane kept spinning until it was near the ground, at which time it appeared to “straighten out.” He stated the airplane then disappeared behind a hill and, a second later, he heard the impact. The engine monitoring system recorded data throughout the flight. The data indicated that the engine rpm and manifold pressure fluctuated at different times throughout the flight. The engine rpm increased from a low of 518 rpm to 1,896 rpm then back down to 1,554 rpm in the last 5 seconds of recorded data. During the same time, the manifold pressure increased from 16.3 inches up to 22.5 inches then down to 7.3 inches at the last recorded data. A postaccident inspection of the engine did not reveal any preexisting failures or malfunctions that would have resulted in a loss of engine power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.