Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Pirates Cove Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fairdealing, Kentucky 42025
Sunday, August 3, 2008 13:26 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During a family gathering, the pilot/owner began to offer rides in the experimental amateur-built airplane to the attendees. The first potential passenger rejected the offer because the day was "too hot." A second person accepted, and he and the pilot departed the lakeside airstrip for a personal flight in the local area. This was the first flight of the day for the pilot and airplane. The airplane flew approximately 3 miles to the north, and remained over the lake during that time. Once the airplane crossed the shoreline, the terrain began to rise. The passenger and a witness on the golf course below both observed that the airplane was low and "close to the trees." The witness stated that he first thought the pilot was trying to land on the fairway, but then the airplane "winged over" and struck trees. The airplane was not equipped with a stall warning system, and a bank angle of 60 degrees increased the stall speed to a value above the best angle of climb speed. No preaccident anomalies or failures with the airplane or engine were discovered. Available information indicated that the pilot had approximately 34 hours experience in the airplane. Postaccident toxicology testing identified diphenhydramine, a sedating and impairing over-the-counter antihistamine, in the pilot's blood, but it was unknown how recently the pilot took the medication and the investigation was unable to determine whether it impaired his abilities or decision-making.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed while climbing into rising terrain at low altitude, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and uncontrolled descent.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/3/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1326 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Fairdealing |
| Event State | KENTUCKY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 42025 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 364937N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0881150W |
| Event Location Airport | Pirates Cove Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 42KY |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 380 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 315 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 410 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 31 |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26358 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 3 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 23 2009 4:17PM |
| User who most recently changed record | muzd |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Nashville, TN |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N69ER |
| NTSB Number | NYC08LA263 |
| 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 | Osborne |
| Aircraft Model | Challenger II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | CH2-029-CW-0649 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 960 |
| 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 | Sep 19 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 549 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John H Goss |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Punta Gorda |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33982 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | John H Goss |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Punta Gorda |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33982 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 42KY |
| Departure City | Benton |
| Departure State | KY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1310 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 23 2009 4:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | muzd |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |