Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Pueblo, Colorado 81001
Friday, October 4, 1996 17:30 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot, he was practicing slow flight and stalls at 5,000 feet above ground level (10,000 feet msl). The only thing he could recall was that the 'main wing stalled' and that the canard was supposed to stall first. The nose pitched up, and he was unable to break the stall. After examining the wreckage, the airplane designer and an FAA airworthiness inspector concluded (1) the canard wing had too low an angle-of-incidence, (2) three of six vortilons had been removed from the main wing, (3) the pilot erroneously calculated the empty weight center of gravity (CG), making all other CG calculations incorrect, and (4) as fuel flowed towards the aft portion of the fuel tank during the stall, the CG moved 1.1 inches beyond the aft CG limit. The designer concluded that the aircraft had not been built according to the plans, but rather was 'converted' to an 'Aerocanard...an unauthorized, unapproved, rip-off design.' The pilot had about 400 hours of flight time in various Cozy aircraft, but he had accrued only about 17 hours in the Cozy MK IV.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot/builder's improper design change which resulted in a loss of control following an intentional stall. A factor was an erroneous weight-and-balance calculation.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/4/1996
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1730
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City PUEBLO
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 81001
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 10
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 Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1742 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 360
Weather Observation Facility ID PUB
Elevation of weather observation facility 4726
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 5
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
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) 22
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 190
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 6404
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) 1325
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Oct 4 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1805
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 10:24AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N96PJ
NTSB Number FTW97LA009
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 Young
Aircraft Model COZY MK IV
Aircraft Series Identifier COZY MK IV
Aircraft Serial Number 203
Certified Max Gross Weight 2000
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Oct 1 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 5
Airframe Hours 17
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name GLENN P. YOUNG
Aircraft Owner Street Address 522 SKYWAY
Aircraft Owner City PUEBLO
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 81001
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 PUB
Departure City
Departure State CO
Departure Country
Departure Time 1650
Departure Time Zone MDT
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 --