Cable Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Upland, California 91785
Saturday, January 8, 2000 10:34 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During an air show, while conducting aerobatic maneuvers, the airplane continued in a spin to ground impact. According to witnesses, the pilot was performing an aerobatic routine with two other airplanes, known as a "squirrel cage" maneuver. The airplanes would take turns entering the aerobatic box to perform a single choreographed maneuver. The routine card indicated that the pilot was to perform multiple snap rolls when the accident occurred. A video of the pilot's routine was examined with the assistance of members of the International Aerobatic Club. The video showed that the pilot made 3 1/2 snap rolls to the right, and then 2 1/2 spins to the left. It appeared there was no flight control problem and the pilot entered a flat spin. The elevator appeared to be loaded and the pilot never broke the stall prior to impact. The pilot had written a magazine article advocating a specific spin recovery method.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to recover from an intentional aerobatic maneuver.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/8/2000
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1034
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City UPLAND
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 91785
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport CABLE
Event Location Nearest Airport ID CCB
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 1439
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1753 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 110
Weather Observation Facility ID ONT
Elevation of weather observation facility 943
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 5
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 20000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Unknown
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 55
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 25
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal 1
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 11246
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jan 8 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1100
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2002 7:11AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N900SH
NTSB Number LAX00LA068
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Clark
Aircraft Model PITTS S1X
Aircraft Series Identifier PITTS S1X
Aircraft Serial Number 001
Certified Max Gross Weight 0
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft --
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Dec 6 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 395
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name MARK MADDEN
Aircraft Owner Street Address
Aircraft Owner City LA MESA
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 91941
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code CCB
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Dec 4 2001 2:49PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --