Lake Ridge Aero Park Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Durham, North Carolina 27703
Saturday, July 17, 2004 11:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to a witness the airplane was observed landing on runway 32. During the touchdown phase of the landing, the airplane bounced two times, followed by the pilot executing a go-around. According to the witness the airplane flew a very tight pattern circling to land again on runway 32. During the next approach to land the airplane was observed entering a "hard slip" to the left then nosed up as it was recovering from the slip, then entered a spin and collided with the ground at a slightly nose down attitude. The post accident examination of the airplane failed to disclose a mechanical malfunction or component failure.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed which resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin and subsequent in-flight collision with terrain.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/17/2004
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1100
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Durham
Event State NORTH CAROLINA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 27703
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 360352N
Event Location Longitude 0784702W
Event Location Airport Lake Ridge Aero Park
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 8NC8
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 309
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1051 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 320
Weather Observation Facility ID RDU
Elevation of weather observation facility 436
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 10
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 10000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 9
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 14
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 190
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) 29.9
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 --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 18551
NTSB Notification Source FAA Com Center
NTSB Notification Date Jul 17 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1200
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Oct 27 2005 6:51AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Greensboro FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N177J
NTSB Number ATL04LA158
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 Pitts
Aircraft Model S-1
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number JR-1
Certified Max Gross Weight 1250
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
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 Feb 1 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Eddie W. Walston
Aircraft Owner Street Address 4468 Upchurch Road
Aircraft Owner City Elm City
Aircraft Owner State NC
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 27822
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 W03
Departure City Wilson
Departure State NC
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1000
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 8NC8
Destination City Durham
Destination State NC
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 19 2005 4:14PM
User who most recently changed record POWP
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 32
Runway Length 3200
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --