White Sands Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Alamogordo, New Mexico 88310
Saturday, November 10, 1990 11:36 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

ON THE FIRST FLIGHT OF AN EXPERIMENTAL HOMEBUILT AIRCRAFT, THE PILOT TOOK OFF WITH WHAT NUMEROUS WITNESSES DESCRIBED AS A ROUGH RUNNING ENGINE. THE FLIGHT PATH AFTER TAKEOFF WAS A PATTERN FOR A RETURN TO LANDING FLOWN AT LESS THAN NORMAL PATTERN ALTITUDE. DURING THE TURN TO FINAL, THE AIRCRAFT WAS OBSERVED TO STALL AND ROLL AT APPROXIMATELY 100 FEET ABOVE GROUND LEVEL FOLLOWED BY A STEEP IMPACT. THE AIRCRAFT WAS EXTENSIVELY DAMAGED BY IMPACT AND GROUND FIRE. NO REASON WAS FOUND FOR THE APPARENT LOST OF POWER.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

PARTIAL LOSS OF ENGINE POWER FOR AN UNDETERMINED REASON, IMPROPER PLANNING/DECISION BY THE PILOT, AND THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE AIRSPEED, WHICH RESULTED IN AN INADVERTENT STALL.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/10/1990
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1136
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City ALAMOGORDO
Event State NEW MEXICO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 88310
Event Date Year 1990
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport WHITE SANDS
Event Location Nearest Airport ID ALM
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 4197
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1155 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 250
Weather Observation Facility ID HMN
Elevation of weather observation facility 4093
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 6
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
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) 40
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) -18
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -18
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 300
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) 0
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 FAA
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 2200
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Nov 10 1990 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1238
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 45132
Date of most recent change to record Dec 18 2002 11:28AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\GIUV
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N51DY
NTSB Number DEN91DQA01
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 Ground
Aircraft Explosion Ground
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name YOUNG
Aircraft Model 2/3 SCALE
Aircraft Series Identifier 2/3 SCALE
Aircraft Serial Number 448051
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection 0
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name
Aircraft Owner Street Address
Aircraft Owner City
Aircraft Owner State
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name YOUNG, IRA
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address ALTO ROUTE
Operator City CAPITAN
Operator State NM
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 88316
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 ALM
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1134
Departure Time Zone MST
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 Approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 21
Runway Length 7005
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --