North Las Vegas Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

North Las Vegas, Nevada 89030
Saturday, April 10, 1999 16:50 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

In the pilot's written statement he said he climbed to 6,000 feet msl to practice aerobatic maneuvers and entered a left upright spin. After two turns, he initiated a forward movement of the stick to recover and found that the stick was jammed in the full aft position. He looked in the rear seat area and discovered that the rear seat back frame had fallen forward, looped over the stick, and was holding it in place. Following unsuccessful attempts to reach the seat back and recover, the pilot abandoned the airplane and parachuted to the ground. According to the pilot, the aircraft continued in the spin until ground impact. Additionally, the pilot said that a safety cable is supposed to hold the rear seat back frame upright during maneuvers to prevent the back from interfering with the rear control stick. The pilot reported that during the preflight inspection he observed that the safety cable was present. After the accident, a flight instructor told the pilot that the cable had been reportedly disconnected from its attach point by maintenance personnel to facilitate access to the aircraft battery and the ELT area behind the rear seat.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to ensure that all loose items inside the cockpit were secure before attempting aerobatic maneuvers.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/10/1999
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1650
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City NORTH LAS VEGAS
Event State NEVADA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 89030
Event Date Year 1999
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport NORTH LAS VEGAS
Event Location Nearest Airport ID VGT
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 12
Degrees magnetic from airport 295
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1654 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 295
Weather Observation Facility ID VGT
Elevation of weather observation facility 2203
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 12
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 20000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 25
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 18
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -15
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 70
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 5
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 Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1250
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Apr 10 1999 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1730
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jan 10 2001 10:04AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N88212
NTSB Number LAX99LA143
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 None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Bellanca
Aircraft Model 7KCAB
Aircraft Series Identifier 7KCAB
Aircraft Serial Number 475-74
Certified Max Gross Weight 1650
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Dec 16 1998 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 54
Airframe Hours 2975
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name JOSEPH R. MARIDON
Aircraft Owner Street Address 6429 OUIDA WAY
Aircraft Owner City LAS VEGAS
Aircraft Owner State NV
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 89103
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name NORTH LAS VEGAS FLYING CLUB
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 2730 AIRPORT DRIVE, SUITE 102
Operator City NORTH LAS VEGAS
Operator State NV
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 89030
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code VGT
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1630
Departure Time Zone PDT
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 --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 10 2001 12:27PM
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 --