Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Huntsville, Alabama 35803
Friday, May 31, 2002 12:43 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated he encountered a downdraft on takeoff, attempted a forced landing, failed to maintain airspeed and crashed. Witnesses stated the airplane was observed in a steep climb, stalled, recovered, and stalled again disappearing behind the tree line. Review of weather data for the departure airport revealed no reported gusts or downdraft. The pilot did not report a mechanical problem with the airplane prior to the collision. A review of the pilot's flight time information showed that he had recorded 97 total flight hours of which 1 hour was in the Team Z Max airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed during a take off climb resulting in a loss of control (inadvertent stall) and the subsequent in-flight collision with terrain. A factor was the lack of total experience in type of aircraft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/31/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1243 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Huntsville |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 35803 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 344450N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0862706W |
| 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 | 1253 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HSV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 650 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4100 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| 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) | 12568 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communications Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 4 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 730 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 16 2003 4:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Birmingham FSDO-09 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1995Z |
| NTSB Number | ATL02LA115 |
| 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 | Frank Fitzgerald |
| Aircraft Model | Team Z Max |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 526 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 560 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 30 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 65 |
| Airframe Hours | 65 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Frank S. Fitzgerald |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 8203 Valley View Drive South East |
| Aircraft Owner City | Huntsville |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 35802 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Robert D. Rochester |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 374 Shagbark Trail |
| Operator City | Somerville |
| Operator State | AL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 35670 |
| 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 | 3M5 |
| Departure City | Huntsville |
| Departure State | AL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1235 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 3M5 |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 7 2002 2:39PM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |