Springfield Capital Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Springfield, Illinois 62708
Saturday, July 12, 1997 18:15 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot said that he was performing an airshow routine with another airplane. He had just come across the top of a '1/2 cuban eight' maneuver, and visually located the other airplane, as he was maneuvering for an opposing pass. He stated, 'Descending back to show center, I lost sight of the other airplane due to my top wing being in my line of sight.' The pilot visually searched for the other airplane. He said, 'Due to the time of day, haze and color of the other airplane, I didn't pick him up. At one instant, something caught my eye. I glanced up, and the next instant, touched down on a slight descent at about 160 miles per hour. The long rigid [landing] gear collapsed easily. I pulled the airplane back into the air, made a slight right turn to line up on runway 13 and landed.' Examination of the airplane revealed no anomalies.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

failure of the pilot to maintain safe altitude/clearance from the terrain. Factors relating to this accident were: the hazy weather condition, the resultant difficulty in keeping the other airplane in sight, and the pilot's diverted attention, while looking for the other airplane during the airshow routine.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/12/1997
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1815
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City SPRINGFIELD
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 62708
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport SPRINGFIELD CAPITAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SPI
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport 310
Airport Elevation 597
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1954 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 310
Weather Observation Facility ID SPI
Elevation of weather observation facility 597
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
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) 6
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 23
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 140
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 2662
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 266
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 13 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 913
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:24PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N30136
NTSB Number CHI97LA211
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 Waco
Aircraft Model UPF-7
Aircraft Series Identifier UPF-7
Aircraft Serial Number 5533
Certified Max Gross Weight 3000
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 1
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jan 4 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 32
Airframe Hours 3889
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name KYLE A. FRANKLIN
Aircraft Owner Street Address P. O. BOX 699
Aircraft Owner City ALTO
Aircraft Owner State NM
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 88312
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 SPI
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1810
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 13
Runway Length 7000
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --