Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Conroe, Texas 77316
Saturday, August 13, 2011 11:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The RV-6 collided with the RV-8 from below while maneuvering during day visual meteorological conditions. The RV-6 descended uncontrolled to ground impact, and the pilot of the RV-8 made a forced landing in a field. The two airplanes were part of group of seven airplanes practicing formation flight maneuvers for an upcoming airshow. According to the pilot of the RV-8, the RV-6 and another airplane were instructed to move into trail positions behind the RV-8. He saw the two airplanes drift back and out of view. About 5 seconds later, the pilot of the RV-8 heard a loud bang and immediately his airplane's engine stopped operating. He did not see the RV-6. The pilot of the other airplane that was moving into the trail position with the RV-6 said that the RV-6 was supposed to be the last airplane in this formation, but instead it moved directly behind the RV-8. The pilot thought that maybe the RV-6 pilot forgot which slot he was supposed to take, so he let the RV-6 have the position and moved behind the RV-6. Shortly after, he observed the RV-6 drift beneath and then climb up and collide with the RV-8. The collision was not violent. He then saw the two airplanes separate, and the RV-6 slowly nosed over into a 60-degree nose-down descent toward the ground. He reported that the pilot of the RV-6 "didn't seem in control of his airplane" before the collision and might have been incapacitated. However, he did not observe anything unusual with the pilot of the RV-6 that would have indicated a possible medical condition before or during the flight. Autopsy and toxicological testing of the RV-6 pilot revealed no evidence of impairment or incapacitation. Although incapacitation or impairment of the RV-6 pilot could explain why he failed to maintain clearance from the RV-8, there is insufficient evidence to determine whether this occurred.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot of the RV-6 airplane to maintain clearance from the RV-8 airplane while practicing formation flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/13/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1130 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Conroe |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77316 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 305409N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0953454W |
| 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 | -- |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | -- |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 29925 |
| NTSB Notification Source | SWR ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 20 2012 8:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | snyg |
| Basic weather conditions | -- |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N16DD | N189DK |
| NTSB Number | CEN11LA573A | CEN11LA573B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | -- | -- |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- |
| Damage | Substantial | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | STEVENS R P/MCCRIGHT D W | KNAB DOUGLAS J |
| Aircraft Model | VANS RV-6 | RV-8 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 60267 | 82734 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | STEVENS RICHARD P | STEVENS RICHARD P |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 170 VICTORIA DR EAST | 170 VICTORIA DR EAST |
| Aircraft Owner City | MONTGOMERY | MONTGOMERY |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77356 | 77356 |
| Operator is an individual? | No | No |
| Operator Name | KNAB DOUGLAS J | STEVENS RICHARD P |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 8723 WINNINGHAM LN | 170 VICTORIA DR EAST |
| Operator City | HOUSTON | MONTGOMERY |
| Operator State | TX | TX |
| Operator Country | USA | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 77055-6634 | 77356 |
| Operator Code | -- | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | 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 | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | -- | -- |
| Departure Airport Code | -- | -- |
| Departure City | -- | -- |
| Departure State | -- | -- |
| Departure Country | -- | -- |
| Departure Time | -- | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- | -- |
| Destination City | -- | -- |
| Destination State | -- | -- |
| Destination Country | -- | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 20 2012 8:36PM | Jun 20 2012 8:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | snyg | snyg |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |