Cocoa Merritt Island Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Merritt Island, Florida 32952
Wednesday, May 15, 2002 19:05 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was practicing touch and go landings at the time of the accident. On the third approach, the airplane was high and hot (fast) nearing the end of runway 11. Witnesses heard the engine power-up and saw the airplane climb to a near vertical attitude. The airplane appeared to have stalled and entered a spin to the left. The airplane rotated approximately 380 degrees before impacting the water. The wing flaps were found in the up position. The rudder trim was found trimmed slightly to the left. The elevator trim was found in the landing configuration, approximately two inches down at the trailing edge. According to the manufacturer, when landing with full flaps, the elevator trim must be adjusted to the nose up position. When conducting a go-around the flaps are raised and the elevator must be adjusted to a more neutral position or the airplane will pitch up.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision resulting in the misconfiguration of the flaps and the elevator trim setting. The misconfiguration resulted in an inadvertent pitch-up, loss of airspeed, stall and collision with the ground.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/15/2002
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1905
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Merritt Island
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 32952
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 282050N
Event Location Longitude 0804113W
Event Location Airport Cocoa Merritt Island
Event Location Nearest Airport ID COI
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 7
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1910 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 104
Weather Observation Facility ID MCO
Elevation of weather observation facility 11
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 34
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Dusk
Lowest Ceiling Height 2500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 23
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 80
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.08
Density Altitude (feet) 1395
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal 1
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13457
NTSB Notification Source Faa Com Center
NTSB Notification Date May 15 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2030
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 30 2003 9:51AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Orlando FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4075Z
NTSB Number ATL02LA099
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Aero Partners One LLC
Aircraft Model CA 7SL
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 017254SL
Certified Max Gross Weight 5200
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 6
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 31
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Aero Partners One LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2250 E Tropicana Ave. Ste 19-670
Aircraft Owner City Las Vegas
Aircraft Owner State NV
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 89119
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Jerome Jacques Oerlemans
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 847 NE 83rd Street
Operator City Miami
Operator State FL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 33138
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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 COI
Departure City Merritt Island
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1902
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code COI
Destination City Merritt Island
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Apr 18 2003 3:28PM
User who most recently changed record POWP
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 11
Runway Length 3601
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --