Cincinnati West Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Harrison, Ohio 45030
Friday, August 21, 2009 20:10 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

A witness reported that after the airplane lifted off, it proceeded “straight-and-level” down the runway about 50 feet above ground level (agl). When the airplane reached the end of the runway, it pitched up into a “very steep” climb angle of about 45-50 degrees. The climb continued to approximately 200 feet agl, when the airplane entered a left turn to an easterly heading. However, the airplane continued banking to the left until it became inverted. At that point, the nose of the airplane was “pointed almost straight down. The plane continued to spin to the left until it disappeared from sight behind the fence.” The airplane impacted terrain southeast of the departure end of the runway. A post accident examination did not reveal any anomalies associated with a pre impact failure or malfunction of the airframe or engine. Fractures of the pilot control stick and mating control rod were due to overstress separation resulting from the impact sequence.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/21/2009
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 2010
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Harrison
Event State OHIO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 45030
Event Date Year 2009
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 391532N
Event Location Longitude 0844628W
Event Location Airport Cincinnati West
Event Location Nearest Airport ID I67
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 587
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1952 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 164
Weather Observation Facility ID CVG
Elevation of weather observation facility 896
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 13
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5000
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) 23
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.83
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) 27165
NTSB Notification Source FAA-AGL ROC
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 23 2010 6:08PM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N14BB
NTSB Number CEN09LA536
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name BROWN
Aircraft Model STEEN SKYBOLT
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 101072
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 Nov 4 1994 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 169
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name BROWN RUSSELL E
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City CINCINNATI
Aircraft Owner State OH
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 45205
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name Raymond M Robben
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Guilford
Operator State IN
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 47022
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 I67
Departure City Harrison
Departure State OH
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 2009
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code I67
Destination City Harrison
Destination State OH
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 18 2010 2:20PM
User who most recently changed record sort
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 19
Runway Length 2803
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --