Spruce Creek Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Daytona Beach, Florida 32114
Saturday, June 27, 1998 15:35 EDT

The pilot-in-command (PIC) was demonstrating a short field takeoff to a pilot/passenger. It was determined that the rear seat pilot was the PIC and responsible for the aircraft, and the front seat occupant, was a passenger, and was following through on the controls during the demonstration of the short field takeoff. Both pilots agreed the taxi out and run up were normal and performed by the pilot in the front seat. Takeoff was also normal for a short field takeoff until about 50 feet. The front seat pilot said, '...within seconds we had lifted off and were climbing at an unbelievable angle...I remember being awe struck by the pitch angle...the attitude of the airplane was so high that I felt uncomfortable...within a few seconds the nose of the aircraft began swinging to the left and as it did, it fell and I realized we were in a deep stall. As the nose came down [the PIC] yelled, 'I got it, I got it, I got it!'...we rolled slowly back and forth as we were settling towards the ground...we hit the ground hard in almost a flat attitude.' The PIC said, he told the front seat pilot to 'lower the nose' and tried to 'ease the stick forward.' He yelled, 'I have the airplane,' and pushed with both hand on the stick. It would not move and he said it felt like '...I was pushing on a spring.' He released his left shoulder harness in an attempt to get the attention of the pilot in the front seat. Just as he had loosened the left shoulder harness the airplane 'stalled.' He said he brought up the left wing and pushed the nose down. At this point the airplane was 'sinking in a deep stall' when he pushed the nose forward, and flared the aircraft just before touchdown with a 'very high sink rate.' He said he 'believed' the power was cut when the aircraft was 'stalled...[but he] did not have time to look inside the aircraft to determine any accurate throttle position....' In addition, it was his opinion that he 'should not have loosened' his shoulder harness and he 'should not have allowed' the other pilot to fly from the front seat on his first takeoff in this airplane, no matter what his previous experience in other aircraft had been. Ground witnesses observed the airplane pitch up approximately 25 to 30 degrees and climb to an altitude of 100 to 125 feet. The left wing dropped, the airplane pitched forward, struck the left side of the runway, 500 feet from the departure end, on the right cowling and right main landing gear, spun on the nose, ending up 100 feet from the runway centerline, pointing towards departure point. Examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal any discrepancies. Confirmation of the position of the airplane's controls, immediately after the accident, could not be determine, because the airplane was removed from the crash site before it could be examined

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed, which resulted in a stall. A contributing factor was the pilot's delay in initiating remedial action.