Richards Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Homestead, Florida 33170
Friday, June 27, 2008 16:20 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was flying an amateur-built Sky Raider I, an experimental light sport aircraft. He stated to the responding Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors that he had purchased the airplane approximately 3 hours prior to the accident flight. The previous owner briefed him on some of the flying characteristics of the airplane, but the pilot had no flight experience in the make and model airplane. The pilot took off on runway a 9, a 2,620-foot long turf runway. About 2 or 3 seconds after becoming airborne, a gust of wind yawed the airplane 45 degrees to the right, toward several hangars and electrical power lines. The pilot attempted to gain sufficient altitude to clear the obstacles, but the airplane abruptly stalled, rolled to the right, and impacted the roof of a hangar. The pilot did not report any preimpact failure or malfunction with the airplane or its systems. The reported wind at an airport about 7 miles northeast of the accident site, about the time of the accident, was from 110 degrees at 11 knots.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed during initial climb.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/27/2008
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1620
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Homestead
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 33170
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 253331N
Event Location Longitude 0803054W
Event Location Airport Richards Field Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 04FA
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 1553 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 40
Weather Observation Facility ID TMB
Elevation of weather observation facility 8
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 7
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) 30
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 23
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 110
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.1
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 24147
NTSB Notification Source FAA Southern ROC
NTSB Notification Date Jun 27 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 Miami FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2642F
NTSB Number MIA08CA127
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 None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Lima
Aircraft Model Sky Raider I
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 001
Certified Max Gross Weight 573
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 1
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Conditional
Date of Last Inspection Jan 1 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed --
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Thomas J Bigelow
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Miami
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 33176
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 04FA
Departure City Homestead
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code 04FA
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff - initial climb
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 21 2008 9:43AM
User who most recently changed record grer
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 9
Runway Length 2620
Runway Width 212
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --