Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Merritt Island Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Merritt Island, Florida 32952
Sunday, August 14, 1994 13:43 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
AFTER TAKEOFF THE PILOT THREW THE TOPE ROPE OUT OF THE COCKPIT AND IT BECAME WRAPPED AROUND THE LEFT RUDDER HORN. THE PILOT PICKED UP THE BANNER AND BECAUSE OF THE POSITION OF THE TOPE ROPE, THE TRAILING EDGE OF THE RUDDER BECAME FULLY DEFLECTED TO THE RIGHT. THE PILOT TURNED RIGHT CROSSWIND, DOWNWIND, AND BASE. WHEN THE FLIGHT WAS ABOUT 1/4 MILE NORTHWEST OF THE AIRPORT, THE AIRPLANE STALLED SPUN 1/2 TURN TO THE RIGHT AND COLLIDED WITH THE GROUND IN A RESIDENTIAL AREA. ACCORDING TO THE OWNER OF THE OPERATION, A MIRROR IS INSTALLED ON THE LEFT WING STRUT TO VIEW THE TOW ROPE AT THE 'D' RING TO VERIFY THAT THE TOW ROPE ISN'T WRAPPED AROUND THE RUDDER HORN. THE PILOT WAS UNABLE TO RELEASE THE BANNER.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO VISUALLY VERIFY THAT THE TOW ROPE WAS NOT WRAPPED AROUND ANY FLIGHT CONTROL SURFACE AND THE INADVERTENT STALL/SPIN. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE ENTANGLEMENT OF THE TOW EQUIPMENT WITH THE RUDDER HORN, RUDDER MOVEMENT WAS RESTRICTED DUE TO FULL DEFLECTION, AND INABILITY OF THE PILOT TO RELEASE THE BANNER.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/14/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1343 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | MERRITT ISLAND |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32952 |
| 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 | MERRITT ISLAND |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | COI |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 315 |
| Airport Elevation | 7 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1350 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 172 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MLB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 35 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| 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 | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1355 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 14 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1455 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 12:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9669S |
| NTSB Number | MIA94LA195 |
| 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 | CHAMPION |
| Aircraft Model | 7GCAA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 7GCAA |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 53 |
| 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 | Jul 14 1994 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 98 |
| Airframe Hours | 6048 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ANDREW P. BURFITT |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 28 LEEWOOD WAY |
| Aircraft Owner City | MERRITT ISLAND |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32952 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | AIR WORDS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 900 AIRPORT ROAD |
| Operator City | MERRITT ISLAND |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 32952 |
| 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 | COI |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1338 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | COI |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | FL |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |