Glenn H Curtiss Museum HUDSON FLYER N910GC

Summary

On 18 June 2010 at about 19:05 local time, a Glenn H Curtiss Museum HUDSON FLYER registered N910GC, operated by Glenn H. Curtiss Museum, was involved in an accident near Penn Yan, New York, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 June 2010 at 19:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Penn Yan, New York, United States

Nearest airport

Penn Yan Airport (PEO)

Coordinates

42.6369, -77.0528

Aircraft

Glenn H Curtiss Museum HUDSON FLYER

Registration

N910GC

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Glenn H. Curtiss Museum

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Flight Test

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Penn Yan → Penn Yan

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA10LA318

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot’s failure to maintain altitude after takeoff.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The accident flight was the fourth test flight of the airplane, which was a historical replica of an airplane built in 1910, and it was the first time that the pilot planned to perform a traffic pattern flight around the airport before returning to land. The pilot reported that the airplane's controls were responsive and effective during the first three flights, which had a total duration of about 5 minutes. While the first three flights had been conducted under calm wind conditions, there was a crosswind from the west at the time of the accident. A witness to the accident flight stated that the airplane took off on runway 19, climbed to about 100 feet above ground level, and turned left (downwind) about two-thirds of the way down the runway. The airplane entered a controlled descent and impacted the ground in a right-wing-low attitude. The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane. He stated that the airplane began to descend after beginning the left turn and that he thought that the airplane experienced a decrease in lift as a result of the tailwind. Although an airplane does not lose aerodynamic lift when turning from a crosswind to a tailwind, the pilot may have misperceived the increased ground speed as an increase in airspeed and increased the airplane’s pitch angle to compensate, resulting in a descent due to increased drag.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.