Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mccullough, Alabama 36502
Sunday, January 27, 2008 16:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot owned the accident airplane, but had not yet obtained a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) sport pilot certificate. Further, the airplane had not been inspected and certified as an experimental light sport aircraft. A witness observed the accident airplane depart a private turf airstrip and fly around the local area. About 30 minutes later, the airplane impacted a field nose down near the departure airstrip. Most of the airplane was consumed by a postcrash fire; however, flight control continuity was confirmed. The airplane was equipped with a heavy engine, respectively, which may have created an aft center of gravity (CG) condition. Such circumstances would require modification to move the CG forward, prior to completing certification. The pilot had accumulated about 25 hours of flight instruction, and had soloed, but had not completed a long cross-country flight. Several months before the fatal accident, the pilot was involved in a prior accident in the same airplane. The prior accident occurred during a high-speed taxi, in which the airplane accidentally became airborne. The pilot was subsequently advised by a designated airworthiness representative, and a flight instructor, not to fly the airplane until it was certificated, and the pilot received a sport pilot certificate.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The non-certificated pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control while maneuvering. Contributing to the accident was the non-certificated pilot's improper decision to conduct a flight prior to the airplane being properly inspected and certified.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/27/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1630 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | McCullough |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 36502 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 311000N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0873130W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 70 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GZH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 259 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| 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) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.25 |
| 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) | 24195 |
| NTSB Notification Source | SROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 28 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 28 2008 3:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Birmingham, Al |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N75474 |
| NTSB Number | NYC08LA087 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Aircraft Model | Free Bird Sportlite |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | CVFB99 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 900 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| 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 | No |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Christopher M. Vanree |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Atmore |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 36502 |
| 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 | NONE |
| Departure City | McCullough |
| Departure State | AL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1600 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 27 2008 10:16AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| 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 | -- |