Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lincoln, Alabama 35096
Thursday, July 3, 2003 11:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane was observed by a witness flying over a tree line. The nose of the airplane was observed to pitch up to about a 70-degree nose high attitude. The left wing dropped down and the nose pitched down as if the airplane was in a stall and collided with the ground. Examination of the airframe, flight controls and engine assembly revealed no anomalies. The left wing was compressed aft and received accordion crushing from the wing root extending outboard to the wing tip. The Fly Baby 1A Ultra light plans revealed that the stall speed for the Bowers Fly Baby 1A airplane is 45 mph.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed while maneuvering resulting in a stall.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/3/2003
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1130
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Lincoln
Event State ALABAMA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 35096
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator --
On Ground Collision occurred ? --
Event Location Latitude 333646N
Event Location Longitude 0860704W
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 1053 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 90
Weather Observation Facility ID ANB
Elevation of weather observation facility 612
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 13
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 3400
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
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) 22
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 260
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.97
Density Altitude (feet) 2371
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) 15060
NTSB Notification Source FAA Communications center
NTSB Notification Date Jul 3 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1330
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Mar 30 2004 8:14AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Birmingham FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N197DE
NTSB Number ATL03LA116
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Butler
Aircraft Model Bowers Fly Baby 1A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 74-24
Certified Max Gross Weight 925
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 Conditional
Date of Last Inspection May 11 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 12
Airframe Hours 106
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Beverly G. Butler
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3421 Ronlea Circle
Aircraft Owner City Birmingham
Aircraft Owner State AL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 35243
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
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 No
Departure Airport Code ASN
Departure City Talladega
Departure State AL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1000
Departure Time Zone CDT
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 Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jan 9 2004 2:12PM
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 --