Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Long Beach Daugherty Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Long Beach, California 90807
Saturday, February 1, 2003 10:50 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane experienced a loss of control, which resulted in a stall/mush while practicing touch-and-go takeoffs and landings. The pilot stated he "lost control" of the airplane during a landing and added power to execute a go-around and pulled up. An airline pilot, who reported having approximately 11,500 hours total time with about 250 hours in the Pitts S-2B, witnessed the accident. He said that when he first saw the airplane it was on a divergent course to the left side of runway 25R at an altitude of 5 feet. As the airplane came to the left edge of the runway it made a pull up, resulting in the nose coming up about 60 degrees. It continued on its upward path while rotating right. At approximately 25 feet, the nose passed vertical; at the 180-degree point of rotation, the right wing struck the ground followed by the nose. The witness pilot further reported that the airplane landed with a left, quartering tailwind of an estimated 8 knots. A Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness inspector examined the airplane. The brakes and tailwheel steering were found in working order. Flight control continuity could not be established because of the post impact fire.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's excessive pull up, which resulted in a failure to obtain/maintain flying speed and a subsequent stall/mush.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/1/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1050 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Long Beach |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 90807 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 334906N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1180910W |
| Event Location Airport | Long Beach Daugherty |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LGB |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 58 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1055 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LGB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 58 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 848 |
| 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) | 16112 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 1 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1102 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 1 2004 7:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-LGB-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N300PS |
| NTSB Number | LAX03LA081 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Pitts |
| Aircraft Model | S-2B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5340 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1700 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 37 |
| Airframe Hours | 350 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HART PITTS GROUP INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2830 E Wardlow Rd |
| Aircraft Owner City | Long Beach |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90807 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Hart Air, LTD. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| 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 | LGB |
| Departure City | Long Beach |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1020 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | LGB |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 18 2004 5:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 25R |
| Runway Length | 3192 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |