Lafayette Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lafayette, Louisiana 70508
Saturday, May 4, 1996 12:33 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During an air show performance, the pilot made a low pass, pulled up, and entered a roll to the right. As the airplane reached the inverted position, there was hesitation, then the nose dropped, and the airplane began descending, while continuing to roll to the right. The airplane impacted the ground upright with the left wing low. Examination of the airplane and engine revealed no evidence of any mechanical discrepancies. The pilot was an experienced air show performer, who had given more than 50 air show performances in the accident make and model of airplane. He had approximately 30 hours flight time in the accident airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

failure of the pilot to maintain adequate airspeed and/or altitude, while performing aerobatic flight.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/4/1996
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1233
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City LAFAYETTE
Event State LOUISIANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 70508
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport LAFAYETTE REGIONAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID LFT
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 42
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1233 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID LFT
Elevation of weather observation facility 42
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 3500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2100
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) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 21
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 200
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 13
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
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) 769
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date May 4 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1300
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 9:59AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2755Z
NTSB Number FTW96FA200
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 North American
Aircraft Model HARVARD MK II
Aircraft Series Identifier HARVARD MK
Aircraft Serial Number 2755
Certified Max Gross Weight 5490
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Apr 30 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name H-TRIF HOLDING, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1209 ORANGE ST
Aircraft Owner City WILMINGTON
Aircraft Owner State DE
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19801
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 LFT
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1220
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 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 --