Tampa Bay Executive Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Odessa, Florida 33556
Monday, July 28, 2003 17:10 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

A close friend of the pilot who witnessed the accident stated that the pilot had just finished installing a training bar, so that the aircraft could be controlled from the back seat when he was giving flight instruction, and the witness further stated that the pilot was taking the aircraft for a test flight. According to witnesses, during the flight, the aircraft departed to the west, and climbed to about 100 feet, when all of a sudden the wings folded up vertically, and the aircraft spun, descended, and impacted the ground. The witnesses also said that they did not notice any change in the sound of the engine throughout the flight's duration. An FAA inspector who responded to the scene of the accident stated that examination of the unregistered aircraft showed that the left hand attach fitting had not been properly attached to the left hand end of the horizontal control bar, which caused the wings to fold upward.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper assembly and failure to connect a bolt following an attempted modification that resulted in airframe malfunction, and uncontrolled descent, and an impact with the ground.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/28/2003
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1710
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Odessa
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 33556
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator --
On Ground Collision occurred ? --
Event Location Latitude 281117N
Event Location Longitude 0823732W
Event Location Airport Tampa Bay Executive
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
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 --
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID TPA
Elevation of weather observation facility 27
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 10000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
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) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 24
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 300
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.01
Density Altitude (feet) 1500
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) 15354
NTSB Notification Source FAA ATL. Comm. Center
NTSB Notification Date Jul 28 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1836
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 28 2004 3:34PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Tampa, Florida

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number None
NTSB Number MIA03LA150
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 Turkan
Aircraft Model Delta Wing Kite Trik
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number --
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Douglas P. Stanton
Aircraft Owner Street Address 5486 Magnolia Street
Aircraft Owner City St. Petersburg
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 33703
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code 3FD1
Departure City Odessa
Departure State LA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1710
Departure Time Zone MST
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 Takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Mar 2 2004 9:17AM
User who most recently changed record KENJ
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 26
Runway Length 5001
Runway Width 48
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --