Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Raleigh/Durham Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Morrisville, North Carolina 27560
Friday, February 22, 1985 10:51 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE OWNER/BUILDER HAD PREPARED THE ACFT FOR ITS 1ST FLT. THIS PREPARATION INCLUDED HIGH SPEED TAXI TESTS, A BRAKE LINE REPAIR & ENG ADJUSTMENTS. TWO 17.6 LB BARBELL WEIGHTS WERE TIED TO THE WING LIFT BULKHEAD WITH 5/16 INCH HEMP ROPE FOR PURPOSES OF WEIGHT & BALANCE. A DECISION WAS MADE FOR THE OWNER'S FATHER, AN EXPERIENCED PLT, TO FLY THE INITIAL TEST FLT. THE PLT MADE A HIGH SPEED RUN WITH AN OPTION TO TAKEOFF & ABORTED WHEN THE ENG DEVELOPED A MISS. HE THEN PERFORMED A SATISFACTORY RUN-UP & TOOK OFF ON THE NEXT ATTEMPT. AFTER TAKING OFF, THE PLT REMAINED IN THE TRAFFIC PATTERN & TURNED ONTO A DOWNWIND FOR RWY 23. THE ACFT THEN NOSED OVER & CRASHED IN A NEAR VERTICAL DESCENT. AN EXAM OF THE FLT CONTROL SYS REVEALED NO EVIDENCE OF A PREIMPACT MALFUNCTION. ALL FRACTURES SHOWED EVIDENCE OF OVERLOAD FAILURE. THE BALLAST WEIGHTS WERE NOT SECURED IN ACCORDANCE WITH NORMAL AERONAUTICAL PRACTICES. THERE WAS EVIDENCE THAT THEY COULD HAVE COME LOOSE & JAMMED THE FLT CONTROLS OR SHIFTED THE CG.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/22/1985 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1051 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | MORRISVILLE |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 27560 |
| Event Date Year | 1985 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | RALEIGH/DURHAM |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RDU |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 72 |
| Airport Elevation | 437 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1055 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 72 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RDU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 437 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 12 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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) | 531 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 22 1985 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1051 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 27816 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 9:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5275U |
| NTSB Number | ATL85FMG01 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MCCLELLAN J. GROTE |
| Aircraft Model | DRAGONFLY |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | DRAGONFLY |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 9-84-573 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 982 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 13 1984 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MCCLELLAN J. GROTE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 110 BLACK BEAR COURT, |
| Aircraft Owner City | CARY |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 27511 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | MCCLELLAN J. GROTE |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 110 BLACK BEAR COURT |
| Operator City | CARY |
| Operator State | NC |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 27511 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| 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 |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 23 |
| Runway Length | 7500 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |