Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hays, Kansas 67601
Sunday, September 28, 1997 19:21 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot, who worked as an aviation mechanic for the aircraft manufacturer, installed vortex generators on the wings and fuselage of a Rans S-11. He then flew the S-11, while a chase plane followed. The S-11 pilot slowed the airplane to let the chase plane catch up. The pilot of the chase plane reported that the S-11's altitude was about 1,500 feet AGL, but the airspeed was slow. He observed the airplane doing slight Dutch rolls and '...just mushing along.' The S-11's nose pitched down and started a 1/4 spin to the left. The aircraft started to pull up from the nose down spin attitude, and then made a shallow arc before impacting the ground. The pilot of the S-11 was not a test pilot. He had a total of 3 hours in the S-11. The S-11 pilot reported the flight was a personal flight. The company did not have a policy for test flying airplanes. The engine and flight controls exhibited continuity.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
failure of the pilot to maintain adequate airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall and collision with the terrain. The pilot's lack of experience in the make and model of airplane was a related factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/28/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1921 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | HAYS |
| Event State | KANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 67601 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| 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 | 1914 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HYS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2000 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| 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) | 1133 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 29 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 937 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:33PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4299Y |
| NTSB Number | CHI97LA302 |
| 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 | Rans, Inc. |
| Aircraft Model | S-11 PURSUIT |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | S-11 PURSU |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 950 |
| 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 | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 9 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 259 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RANS, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4600 HWY 183 |
| Aircraft Owner City | HAYS |
| Aircraft Owner State | KS |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 67601 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1900 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| 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 | Descent - uncontrolled |
| 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 | -- |