David Fitzgerald ZENITH N32FZ

Summary

On 5 August 2014 at about 20:55 local time, a David Fitzgerald ZENITH registered N32FZ was involved in an accident near Warren, Idaho, 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

5 August 2014 at 20:55

Classification

Accident

Location

Warren, Idaho, United States

Coordinates

45.2103, -115.3594

Aircraft

David Fitzgerald ZENITH

Registration

N32FZ

Category

Airplane

Year built

2013

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Big Creek → Dixie

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR14FA330

2 people died.

The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed and his exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle-of-attack while climbing to avoid terrain while operating at a high density altitude, which resulted in a stall at too low an altitude to allow recovery.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot and a passenger were conducting cross-country flights across multiple days in remote mountainous areas. Data downloaded from the airplane's multifunction display showed, for the accident leg, a flight track that meandered from the last departure point toward the day's intended destination, which was about 19 nm northwest of the accident site. The track followed the contour of the area's mountainous terrain, was not a direct route, and had many turns and route reversals. The airplane's altitude remained mostly constant. In the last minute of flight, the airplane was in a gradual climb, and the airspeed decreased from about 50 knots to the last recorded airspeed of about 35 knots. During the last few seconds of flight, the pitch became nose down, and the airplane rolled to a 90-degree angle. Onsite wreckage documentation indicated that the airplane collided with the sloping terrain in a nose-down attitude. It is likely that the pilot increased pitch to establish a climb angle to clear the terrain but inadvertently exceeded the airplane's critical angle-of-attack and entered a stall from which he was unable to recover. The density altitude at the time of the accident was about 10,381 ft. Operation at a high density altitude can adversely impact airplane performance. Postaccident documentation of the wreckage and data downloaded from the airplane's multifunction display did not reveal evidence of a mechanical malfunction or failure that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.