Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lehighton, Pennsylvania 18235
Saturday, June 23, 2007 15:13 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A commercial pilot was flying with the student pilot/airplane owner on a demonstration flight. In statements provided to the NTSB investigator-in-charge, the pilots contradicted each other on who was flying the airplane immediately prior to the accident. The student pilot said the commercial pilot was flying, and allowed the airplane to get too slow, and the airplane stalled and entered a flat spin. The commercial pilot said the student pilot demonstrated a stall, failed to recover, and the airplane entered a flat spin. Both pilots agree that the student was on the controls during the attempted spin recovery. The airplane did not recover from the spin, and collided with trees, sustaining substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. A postaccident inspection by an FAA inspector disclosed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical anomalies. The commercial pilot stated that he was unaware that the student pilot was not a certificated pilot.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot to maintain sufficient airspeed while maneuvering to avoid a stall, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin, and collision with trees and terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/23/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1513 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Lehighton |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 18235 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 405023N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0753848W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ABE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 330 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.92 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 22000 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Com Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 23 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 30 2007 12:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Allentown FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N85136 |
| NTSB Number | ATL07CA095 |
| 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 | Zaverton Elmer |
| Aircraft Model | PJ260 SR Aero Sport |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | II |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1850 |
| 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 | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Sneed, Ernest S |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2123 Chestnut Oaks Rd |
| Aircraft Owner City | Powhattan |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 23139 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | William Francis Vose |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 752 Company Field Rd |
| Operator City | Weatherly |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 18255 |
| 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 | 14N |
| Departure City | Lehighton |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 14N |
| Destination City | Lehighton |
| Destination State | PA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 25 2007 11:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |