Spirit Of St. Louis Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Chesterfield, Missouri 63005
Saturday, August 27, 1994 9:01 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE EXPERIMENTAL SINGLE ENGINE TURBOJET WAS DEPARTING ON A DEMONSTRATION FLIGHT. AFTER ATTAINING ROTATION SPEED (VR), THE CANOPY BEGAN TO OPEN. THE PILOT INTENTIONALLY ABORTED THE TAKEOFF, APPLIED HEAVY BRAKING, AND THE AIRPLANE DEPARTED THE RUNWAY END. THE RUNWAY USED WAS 3800 FEET LONG. A PARALLEL RUNWAY WAS 7000 FEET LONG. THE PILOTS' CALCULATION SHOWED REQUIRED RUNWAY TO BE 3110 FEET. THE CANOPY LOCK PINS WERE FULLY EXTENDED, EXTINGUISHING THE 'CANOPY OPEN' LIGHT, BUT HAD NOT ENGAGED THE LOCKING LUGS. A SUBSEQUENT REDESIGN LENGTHENED THE LUGS, WHICH PREVENTS THE LOCK PINS FROM EXTENDING WITHOUT ENGAGEMENT. THE LIMITED PERFORMANCE DATA AVAILABLE DOES NOT INCLUDE ACCELERATE- STOP DISTANCE, NOR IS IT AVAILABLE FOR ABORT ABOVE VR.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the canopy lock pin design which allowed the pilot to receive a 'closed and locked' indication without the canopy lock pin being engaged. Factors were the pilots' intentional abort above rotation speed, the lack of developed takeoff and accelerate-stop distance performance data for the airplane in this flight regime.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/27/1994
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 901
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City CHESTERFIELD
Event State MISSOURI
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 63005
Event Date Year 1994
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SUS
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 463
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 916 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID SUS
Elevation of weather observation facility 463
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 25000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 8
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 320
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 12
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 None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1208
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Aug 27 1994 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1045
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 6 2000 11:59AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2BD
NTSB Number CHI94LA288
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Bede Aircraft
Aircraft Model BD-10
Aircraft Series Identifier BD-10
Aircraft Serial Number 0001
Certified Max Gross Weight 4700
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Aug 17 1994 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 20
Airframe Hours 300
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name BEDE JET CORPORATION
Aircraft Owner Street Address 18421 EDISON AVE
Aircraft Owner City CHESTERFIELD
Aircraft Owner State MO
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 63005
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name BEDE JET CORPORATION
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address 18421 EDISON AVE
Operator City CHESTERFIELD
Operator State MO
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 63005
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) Business
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 900
Departure Time Zone CDT
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 Takeoff
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 8L
Runway Length 3800
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --