Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Covington, Tennessee 38019
Saturday, December 20, 2003 14:00 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The purpose of the flight was not known, however the unqualified person and a 6 year old passenger were on board the airplane at the time of the accident. The witnesses at the accident site stated, the airplane took off to the south and was flying approximately 500 feet above the ground, when it circled to come back (to land). Witnesses stated that the airplane pitched up, then down, and entered a spin to the right. The airplane spun around about 4 to 6 times before the airplane collided with the ground. The eyewitnesses rushed to the accident site and found the downed airplane. They also reported that the rear mounted engine was still running and the propeller was turning upon their arrival at the accident site. The post -accident examination of the accident site revealed that the airplane rested in a nose down attitude in an open field. The nose section of the airplane was buried several inches into the mud. The empennage section of the airplane was attached to the airframe. The vertical and horizontal stabilizers appeared not to be damaged. Both wing tips were touching the ground at the point were the airplane rested. The post-accident examination of the airplane failed to disclose any mechanical malfunction or component failure. No pilot log books were recovered for examination, and there were also no records of the pilot's qualification as a trainer in the Skyboy airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin and collision with the ground. A factor was the unqualified person (pilot).

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/20/2003
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Covington
Event State TENNESSEE
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 38019
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 353501N
Event Location Longitude 0893501W
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 1453 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 360
Weather Observation Facility ID MEM
Elevation of weather observation facility 341
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 25000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 16
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 15
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.22
Density Altitude (feet) --
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 1
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 18074
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Dec 20 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1630
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 13 2005 12:54PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Memphis FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number None
NTSB Number ATL04LA057
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 Interplane LLC
Aircraft Model Skyboy-2
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 073-2003
Certified Max Gross Weight 1232
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 Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection 16
Airframe Hours 16
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Phillip T. Ballard
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1113 Mill Road
Aircraft Owner City Drummond
Aircraft Owner State TN
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 38032
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 --
Departure City Covington
Departure State TN
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone CST
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 May 31 2005 5:31PM
User who most recently changed record POWP
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --