Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Queen Creek, Arizona 85212
Friday, May 9, 2008 13:17 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The operator noted that the airplane was overdue from a practice upset recovery training flight. Shortly thereafter, the wreckage was located in flat desert terrain about 10 miles east of the airport. The two occupants were located approximately 50 feet from the airplane wreckage and were wearing parachutes. The instructor pilot’s parachute was found to have been activated and partially deployed. The pilot under instruction's parachute had not been activated. Examination of onboard video and audio recordings revealed that the pilot under instruction was seated in the front cockpit and the instructor pilot was seated in the rear cockpit. The crew intended to perform a maneuver that consisted of the first half as a climbing vertical loop with a snap-roll executed at the top, then continue through the back half of the loop. The pilot under instruction, in the front seat, had the controls for this maneuver. At the top of the loop, as the airplane entered into the snap-roll portion of the maneuver, the airplane’s nose dropped and it entered an erect spin. The pilot in the front cockpit stated that something broke. The instructor in the rear cockpit verbalized the recover procedures, then concurred that there was something wrong with the rudder; he released the canopy and gave the command to get out. The pilot in the front cockpit released his harness and moved to sit on the left-hand canopy rail over a period of 14 seconds. It was not until the front pilot was completely out of his seat before the video showed the rear pilot moving to position himself on the left canopy rail, which took 9 seconds. They both fell backwards out of the cockpit nearly simultaneously 23 seconds after the canopy had been released. The estimated altitude that the airplane was at when the crew bailed out was 246 feet above ground level. Multiple examinations of the rudder system did not reveal any evidence of a rudder malfunction or jam.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of aircraft control due to an undetermined rudder malfunction.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/9/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1317 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Queen Creek |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85212 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 331711N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1112855W |
| Event Location Airport | Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KIWA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 10 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1382 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1335 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 280 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KIWA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1382 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 15000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 30 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.75 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25577 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 9 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 20 2009 11:26AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Scottsdale, AZ |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N133EE |
| NTSB Number | LAX08FA134 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | EXTRA Flugzeugproduktions-GMBH |
| Aircraft Model | EA-300/L |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 09 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1918 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 17 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1734 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | APS Asset Management Inc |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3636 E Inverness Ave, Apt 1065 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Mesa |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85206 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Aviation Performance Solutions |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 3636 E Inverness Ave, Apt 1065 |
| Operator City | Mesa |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 85206 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KIWA |
| Departure City | Queens Creek |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1243 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KIWA |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Unknown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 15 2009 1:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |