Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Chesapeake Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Chesapeake, Virginia 23323
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 18:18 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot/owner's girlfriend stated that the purpose of the flight was to test the speed brake installed in the amateur-built airplane. She quoted the pilot as saying that during the first hour he owned the airplane, he tried the speed brake and it really scared him. He had since accumulated 70 total hours in the airplane and was going to try the speed brake again. Witnesses described watching the accident airplane taxi from its hangar and then listening to the pilot announce the takeoff, crosswind, and downwind legs of the traffic pattern over the Unicom frequency. Seconds later, the witnesses heard a voice transmit cries for help. Other witnesses were traveling southbound along a divided highway, adjacent to the airport, in their car. They noticed the airplane flying erratically, at low altitude, as it paralleled their course on the west side of the highway. The airplane then crossed the roadway in front of their vehicle at low altitude, and circled back towards them before striking the ground on the east side of the roadway, scattering debris across all four lanes in a westerly direction. The witnesses' vehicle drove through and over wreckage as their vehicle was struck by flying debris. Examination of the wreckage and its components revealed no evidence of preimpact anomalies. The airplane's builder assisted the pilot/owner with a complete disassembly and annual inspection of the airplane about 1 year prior to the accident, with no mechanical, performance, or handling deficiencies noted with the speed brake stowed or deployed. The pilot/owner did not express any concerns to the builder about the speed brake, nor the handling characteristics of the airplane with the speed brake deployed.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of control in flight for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/3/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1818 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Chesapeake |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 23323 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 363934N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0761908W |
| Event Location Airport | Chesapeake Regional Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CPK |
| 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 | 20 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1819 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 30 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CPK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 20 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 27 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| 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) | 30.08 |
| 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) | 25106 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 3 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 21 2009 1:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Richmond, VA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8VE |
| NTSB Number | NYC08LA001 |
| 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 | Lambert John G |
| Aircraft Model | Varieze |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1996 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 27 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 1547 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jefrey M. Arnold |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Chesapeake |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 23323 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Jefrey M. Arnold |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | CHESAPEAKE |
| Operator State | VA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 23323-66 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | CPK |
| Departure City | Chesapeake |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1816 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | CPK |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - downwind |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 21 2009 12:50PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 05 |
| Runway Length | 5500 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |