Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
None Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Live Oak, Florida 32060
Thursday, March 13, 2008 9:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The student pilot of the amateur built SeaWing weight-shift control aircraft was in his first day of solo flight training. He successfully completed "a few" solo takeoffs and landings when the winds increased, which prompted him to switch to a field adjacent to the one he was using. On short final, the aircraft drifted towards trees to the right of the nominal approach path. The pilot initiated a go-around, and applied control inputs that were intended to correct the flight path to the left. The pilot's control inputs caused the aircraft to turn right, and it collided with the trees. The impact resulted in substantial damage to the aircraft, and serious injuries to the pilot. The pilot had approximately 700 hours in airplanes, and was learning to fly the accident aircraft. The pitch and directional control inputs for a weight-shift aircraft were opposite those required for an airplane. The flight instructor and student were cognizant of the potential for problems caused by the difference in required control inputs, but neither observed any tendency of the student to make incorrect inputs on any previous flights. The pilot stated that on the accident approach, he reverted to his original training, which was correct for a conventional airplane, but incorrect for the accident aircraft.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The student pilot's failure to maintain directional control during a go-around. Contributing to the accident was his habit interference from previously flying conventional airplanes.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/13/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 900 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Live Oak |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32060 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 301508N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0825527W |
| Event Location Airport | NONE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 853 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 215 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | 40J |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 45 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 32 |
| 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) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| 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) | 30.08 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23471 |
| NTSB Notification Source | SOUTHERN ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 13 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 30 2008 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA/FSDO Orlando FL |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7711Z |
| NTSB Number | NYC08CA136 |
| 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 | J&J Ultralights |
| Aircraft Model | Sea Wing |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | SWJ582301028 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 950 |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 45 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Walter Richard |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Metairie |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 70005 |
| 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 | Live Oak |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Live Oak |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - final approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 14 2008 9:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | 1500 |
| Runway Width | 500 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |