Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sanibel Island, Florida 33957
Sunday, November 29, 2009 13:30 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was flying about 100 feet above the surface of the water, 300 to 400 feet offshore. As he entered a 180-degree turn he forgot to add power and the airplane lost 70 feet of altitude. The pilot then completed the turn about 30 feet above the water and at 40 miles per hour airspeed, and felt that “adding power did not seem appropriate” as he was “heading toward the beach with people everywhere.” The pilot then elected to allow the airplane to stall and crash into the water. A wreckage examination was conducted by the responding Federal Aviation Administration inspector who found no prexisting mechanical abnormalities or failures with the airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s failure to add power during a low-level turn, which resulted in a loss of airspeed and a subsequent stall.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/29/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Sanibel Island |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33957 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 262656N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0820120W |
| 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 | 1353 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RSW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 30 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27514 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Lee County Airport Authority |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 29 2010 11:54AM |
| User who most recently changed record | coxp |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N969TF |
| NTSB Number | ERA10LA085 |
| 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 | Tail Feather LLC |
| Aircraft Model | Sea Rey |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1DK249 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1370 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 182 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Scott Van Atten |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Weidman |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 48893 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Dunklin Murrey |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Cape Coral |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33993 |
| 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 | 1FA3 |
| Departure City | Pine Island |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1230 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 1FA3 |
| Destination City | Pine Island |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 18 2010 11:16AM |
| User who most recently changed record | obrj |
| 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 | -- |