Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Iowa City, Iowa 52242
Sunday, March 27, 2005 17:45 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The aerobatic experimental amateur-built biplane was destroyed on impact with terrain following an in-flight loss of control while aerobatically maneuvering. The private pilot and commercial pilot, certificated front seat occupant were fatally injured. A witness stated, "As it passed overhead it did a barrel roll, left wing down first ... 1 ½ rolls ending up upside down for several seconds. While the plane was upside down we noticed the plane rotating around its center point. It lost altitude and stayed stalled." On-scene examination of the wreckage revealed no pre-impact anomalies. Clear skies and light surface winds existed at the time of the accident. The Civil Aeromedical Institute's Final Forensic Toxicology Accident Report for the front seat pilot rated occupant stated, "58.08 (ug/ml, ug/g) ACETAMINOPHEN detected in Urine, ACETAMINOPHEN NOT detected in Blood." The pilots were found not wearing parachutes. FAA regulation 91.307 Parachutes and parachuting, in-part, stated, "(c) Unless each occupant of the aircraft is wearing an approved parachute, no pilot of a civil aircraft carrying any person (other than a crewmember) may execute any intentional maneuver that exceeds- (1) A bank of 60 degrees relative to the horizon; or (2) A nose-up or nose-down attitude of 30 degrees relative to the horizon." The pilots sustained similar injuries to their right upper extremities. With the available evidence it was not possible to conclusively determine that either pilot was actually holding the controls at the time of impact. Weight and balance calculations showed the airplane's center of gravity exceeded the airplane's published aft center of gravity limit.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot not maintaining airplane control and airspeed, and the stall/spin encountered during aerobatic maneuvering. A factor in the accident was the pilot exceeding the published airplane's aft center of gravity limit and a factor in the pilot rated occupant's fatal injury was approved personal parachutes not being worn during aerobatics as required by regulation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/27/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1745 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Iowa City |
| Event State | IOWA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 52242 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 413821N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0913247W |
| 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 | 1752 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IOW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 668 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| 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) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 330 |
| 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) | 29.83 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 699 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19313 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 27 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 28 2006 1:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Des Moines, IA, FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N85SM |
| NTSB Number | CHI05LA082 |
| 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 | Matthews |
| Aircraft Model | Christen Eagle II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | Matthews 0001 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 4 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 558.6 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | David Daniel Culbertson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6313 30th Avenue Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Shellsburg |
| Aircraft Owner State | IA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 52332 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | IOW |
| Departure City | Iowa City |
| Departure State | IA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1730 |
| 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 | Dec 30 2005 9:59AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |