Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Davenport, Iowa 52804
Saturday, September 1, 2012 13:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The accident airplane was one of three airplanes in an airshow performance. After overflying the spectators and while flying away from the flight line, the airplanes executed a “crossover break” maneuver, at the beginning of which the accident airplane was in the left wing position. As planned, the lead airplane would climb while the left wing position airplane would enter a right turn and the right wing position airplane would enter a left turn with adequate longitudinal spacing. During the maneuver, the accident airplane entered the right turn as planned, but then descended and impacted the terrain. A postimpact fire ensued. No evidence of an in-flight collision with either of the other airplanes was observed. Witnesses reported that they did not observe any movement of the airplane's flight control surfaces before the airplane impacted terrain, which would be inconsistent with the pilot attempting to recover from the descent. The postaccident examination did not reveal any preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of airplane control for reasons that could not be determined because postaccident examination did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded operation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/1/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Davenport |
| Event State | IOWA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 52804 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 413637N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0903518W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1347 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DVN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 751 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2300 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.97 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32050 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 6 2013 5:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | saua |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N139GS |
| NTSB Number | CEN12LA602 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | AERO VODOCHODY |
| Aircraft Model | L39C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 432833 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WARBIRD EDUCATION FOUNDATION |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | FRISCO |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75034-5972 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | ON FILE |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | FRISCO |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 75034-5972 |
| 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) | Air Race/Show |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | DVN |
| Departure City | Davenport |
| Departure State | IA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1315 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | DVN |
| Destination City | Davenport |
| Destination State | IA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 6 2013 5:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | saua |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |