South Lafourche Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Galliano, Louisiana 70354
Saturday, May 21, 2005 16:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The 55-hour private pilot replaced the airplane's Volkswagen engine on his experimental airplane with a Solar T62 ground power unit (GPU), which the pilot had overhauled and converted into a turbo-prop engine. The pilot's first flight in the airplane, and first flight since the engine conversion, lasted about 15 minutes. On his second flight, he performed two high speed taxi checks at the airport, and then departed south from Runway 18. During the initial climb-out, the airplane entered a slow turning left bank and shortly thereafter, the left wing dropped and the airplane entered a spin before impacting the ground. The airplane was destroyed by post-impact fire.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed which resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin during initial takeoff climb. A contributing factor was the pilot's lack of experience for the make/model airplane.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/21/2005
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1600
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Galliano
Event State LOUISIANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 70354
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 292555N
Event Location Longitude 0901555W
Event Location Airport SOUTH LAFOURCHE
Event Location Nearest Airport ID L49
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 1
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1550 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 270
Weather Observation Facility ID HUM
Elevation of weather observation facility 10
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 22
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 2500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 32
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 22
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 360
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.8
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) 18612
NTSB Notification Source FAA ROC
NTSB Notification Date May 21 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
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 Baton Rouge, LA

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N684LM
NTSB Number DFW05LA129
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 Miller
Aircraft Model Rand Robinson KR-2
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 7713
Certified Max Gross Weight 900
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 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 Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Joseph D Wise
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1207 Ruth Drive
Aircraft Owner City Longview
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 75601
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Joseph I Bedo
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Cut Off
Operator State LA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 70345
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 L49
Departure City GALLIANO
Departure State LA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1557
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Galliano
Destination State LA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff - initial climb
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 30 2005 9:18AM
User who most recently changed record CASH
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 --