Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Hermiston Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hermiston, Oregon 97838
Thursday, October 14, 2004 9:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After performing a number of low-level aerobatic maneuvers to the east of the airport, the pilot made a low-level pass over the runway from east to west. He then executed a rapid pull-up, and climbed on a near-vertical line. As the aircraft climbed, its airspeed decreased to the point that when the pilot executed a wingover maneuver at the top of the climb, the aircraft entered a spin. It then spun two or three times to the left, before its rotation rate began to decrease. As the rotation rate decreased, the pilot attempted to pull out of the dive, but the aircraft impacted the terrain and immediately burst into flames. There was no indication of any problems with the flight controls, nor any evidence that there had been a malfunction associated with the engine.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain an airspeed above stall speed while executing a wingover maneuver at the top of a vertical climb, leading to an inadvertent spin, and the pilot's inadequate remedial action in attempting to recover from the spin. Factors include performing aerobatic maneuvers close to the terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/14/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 900 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Hermiston |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97838 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 454923N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1191639W |
| Event Location Airport | Hermiston Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KHRI |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 220 |
| Airport Elevation | 644 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 853 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 40 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KHRI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 644 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.21 |
| 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) | 18374 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 14 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 915 |
| 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 | Portland FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N706C |
| NTSB Number | SEA05LA006 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Caldwell |
| Aircraft Model | Glasair II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 307 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1900 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| 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 | Steven M. Caldwell |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Hermiston |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97838 |
| 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 | HRI |
| Departure City | Hermiston |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 845 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | HRI |
| 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 | Jun 21 2005 3:47PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| 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 | -- |