Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Panama City, Florida 32409
Monday, June 16, 2008 13:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The passenger reported that the pilot had performed a thorough preflight inspection of the airplane and that after takeoff he performed aerobatic maneuvers over a practice area. Before the last maneuver the pilot asked the passenger if he wanted to perform what he thought was a tail slide. The flight climbed to 3,500 feet and the pilot initiated the maneuver and, after falling for a few seconds, attempted to recover. The pilot appeared to bring the nose level briefly with full power, but the airplane then started rolling to the left and right, as well as up and down, and the pilot announced that there was a malfunction. The pilot informed him to bail out of the airplane, which he did. The airplane crashed inverted in a heavily wooded area, and the passenger was unharmed. Following recovery of the airplane, inspection of the elevator and rudder flight controls by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed no evidence of preimpact failure or malfunction. Inspection of the aileron flight control system revealed that wooden aileron secondary stop blocks were attached to the main spars; however, the shape was different than the stop block depicted in the builder's guide. Additionally, scrape marks associated with each aileron outer bellcrank were noted on structural support tubes inside both lower wings.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inability to recover from an intentional aerobatic maneuver due to loss of aileron control. Contributing to the accident was the installation of an inadequate aileron secondary stop block against the main spar of both lower wings.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/16/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Panama City |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32409 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 302025N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0853724W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| 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 | 1253 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PFN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 20 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26586 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern C- ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 16 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 22 2010 11:57AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Birmingham, Alabama |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N363J |
| NTSB Number | MIA08LA121 |
| 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 | MCKEEHAN JAMES F |
| Aircraft Model | ACRODUSTER II SA750 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 363 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1800 |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 15 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 22 |
| Airframe Hours | 838 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GORHAM FRANK W JR |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | LYNN HAVEN |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32444-5643 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Kevin G. Gorham |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Panama City |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 32405 |
| 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 | PFN |
| Departure City | Panama City |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1245 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | PFN |
| Destination City | Panama City |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - uncontrolled |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 5 2010 10:37AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| 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 | -- |