Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Collegedale, Tennessee 37302
Friday, March 29, 2013 15:46 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot had recently purchased the experimental amateur-built airplane and was not familiar with it. The flight instructor reported that, before the pilot's first instructional flight in the airplane, they were unable to start the engine. The pilot unlatched and raised the canopy to call for assistance from ground personnel. As the ground person started to attach the battery charger to the engine, the pilot unbuckled his seatbelt to assist; however, the ground person told the pilot that he did not need to get out of the airplane. The pilot then hastily attempted to refasten his seatbelt, and the pilots lowered the canopy. The flight instructor stated that the canopy appeared to be flush with the fuselage and latched properly; however, about 9 minutes into the flight, the canopy opened, and the airplane entered a negative G dive, at which point, the pilot was pulled out of his seat and the airplane. The flight instructor remained in his seat with the seatbelt fastened and landed the airplane uneventfully. Examination of the pilot's seatbelt and the canopy latch did not reveal any malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. Therefore, it is likely that the pilots did not latch the canopy properly before takeoff and that the pilot did not properly fasten his seatbelt, which allowed him to be pulled from the airplane due to the high G forces after the canopy opened in flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to ensure that his seatbelt was fastened and the pilots' failure to ensure that the canopy was latched properly, which resulted in the pilot's ejection from the cockpit following the opening of the canopy and the subsequent in-flight upset.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/29/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1546 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Collegedale |
| Event State | TENNESSEE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 37302 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 350240N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0850112W |
| 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 | 1553 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CHA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 682 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.26 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32110 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 25 2013 2:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N999NA |
| NTSB Number | ERA13LA183 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ANDREWS |
| Aircraft Model | ZODIAC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 601XL |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6222 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1320 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| 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 13 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 58 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | David T Richardson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Chattanooga |
| Aircraft Owner State | TN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 37421 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | David T Richardson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Chattanooga |
| Operator State | TN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 37421 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Collegedale |
| Departure State | TN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1537 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Collegedale |
| Destination State | TN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 25 2013 2:37PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| 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 | -- |