Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tea, South Dakota 57064
Sunday, August 16, 2009 14:11 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Witnesses reported seeing the airplane perform a maneuver similar to a hammerhead stall. The airplane recovered and then entered a second similar maneuver. One witness reported that during that second maneuver, as the airplane began to descend, the engine made a popping noise and sounded like it lost power. The witness said that the airplane was doing a “twirling effect” until it impacted the terrain. Another witness said that he saw the airplane climbing until it was “almost standing still, then it cut left” and entered a 45-degree nose-down spin. He reported that after the first or second spin he heard the engine “cut out then backfire about 3 times and then it sounded like it quit.” The witness stated that the airplane kept spinning until it was near the ground, at which time it appeared to “straighten out.” He stated the airplane then disappeared behind a hill and, a second later, he heard the impact. The engine monitoring system recorded data throughout the flight. The data indicated that the engine rpm and manifold pressure fluctuated at different times throughout the flight. The engine rpm increased from a low of 518 rpm to 1,896 rpm then back down to 1,554 rpm in the last 5 seconds of recorded data. During the same time, the manifold pressure increased from 16.3 inches up to 22.5 inches then down to 7.3 inches at the last recorded data. A postaccident inspection of the engine did not reveal any preexisting failures or malfunctions that would have resulted in a loss of engine power.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane during recovery from an aerobatic maneuver.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/16/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1411 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Tea |
| Event State | SOUTH DAKOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 57064 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 432647N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0965015W |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | 1356 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 15 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FSD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1429 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| 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) | 27312 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-RAP FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 18 2010 10:46AM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N98AW |
| NTSB Number | CEN09LA523 |
| 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 | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | FROM HERE TO THERE PDQ INC |
| Aircraft Model | RV-8 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 80270 |
| 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 24 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 751 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | VANGUARD SQUADRON INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 46928 272ND ST |
| Aircraft Owner City | TEA |
| Aircraft Owner State | SD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 57064-8101 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Todd E. Eslick |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Tea |
| Operator State | SD |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 57064 |
| 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 | Y14 |
| Departure City | Tea |
| Departure State | SD |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1345 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | Y14 |
| Destination City | Tea |
| Destination State | SD |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 18 2010 9:57AM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| 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 | -- |