Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Boynton Beach, Florida 33437
Sunday, March 27, 1994 7:15 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
WITNESSES HEARD THE SOUND OF THE AIRCRAFT'S ENGINE INCREASE AND DECREASE SEVERAL TIMES. THEY THEN HEARD A 'LOUD POP' OR 'EXPLOSION' AND OBSERVED THE AIRCRAFT DESCENDING IN A SPIN WITH PART OF A WING MISSING. THE OUTBOARD LEFT WING WAS FOUND 1/4 MILE FROM THE MAIN WRECKAGE ALONG WITH THE LEFT AILERON AND DEBRIS FROM THE CANOPY AND CABIN OF THE AIRCRAFT. EXAMINATION OF THE LEFT WING INDICATED THE OUTBOARD WING SECTION SEPARATED IN A DOWNWARD DIRECTION DUE TO OVERSTRESS AT THE POINT IT ATTACHES TO THE INBOARD SECTION. ALL OTHER SEPARATIONS OF STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS AND FLIGHT CONTROL SURFACES HAD SEPARATION FEATURES TYPICAL OF OVERSTRESS. EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE SHOWED NO EVIDENCE OF PRECRASH FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT IN COMMAND'S EXCEEDING THE DESIGNED STRESS LIMITS OF THE AIRCRAFT RESULTING IN OVERLOAD FAILURE OF THE LEFT WING OUTBOARD ATTACH FITTING. THIS RESULTED IN INFLIGHT SEPARATION OF THE OUTBOARD LEFT WING, AND SUBSEQUENT INFLIGHT COLLISION WITH THE TERRAIN DURING AN UNCONTROLLED DESCENT.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/27/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 715 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | BOYNTON BEACH |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33437 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 756 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 35 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PBI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 19 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 17 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 800 |
| 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) | 324 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 27 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 850 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 10:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N215CK |
| NTSB Number | MIA94LA105 |
| 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 | WALLACE |
| Aircraft Model | THORP T-18 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | THORP T-1 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | JSW310 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1200 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 13 1993 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 26 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CHARLES F. KENNY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3520 WHITEHALL DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | WEST PALM BEACH |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33401 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | LNA |
| Departure City | LANTANA |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 700 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| 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 | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| 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 | -- |