Allen PITTS SPECIAL S-1 N52LA

Summary

On 8 August 1987 at about 18:30 local time, a Allen PITTS SPECIAL S-1 registered N52LA, operated by James Paul King, was involved in an accident near Lancaster, Ohio, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

8 August 1987 at 18:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Lancaster, Ohio, United States

Nearest airport

Fairfield (I15)

Coordinates

39.7206, -82.5910

Aircraft

Allen PITTS SPECIAL S-1

Registration

N52LA

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

James Paul King

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL87DEK02

1 person died.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

N52LA WAS BEING FLOWN IN A 2-ACFT ACROBATIC DEMONSTRATION (DEMO). AFTER TAKEOFF, THE PLTS BGN THE DEMO BY PASSING EACH OTHER IN A LOW ALT KNIFE EDGE MANEUVER OVER THE RWY. AFTER PASSING, THEY ROLLED INVERTED, UNTIL NEAR THE ENDS OF THE RWY, THEN ROLLED UPRIGHT & BGN A STEEP CLIMB. ONE WITNESS STATED THAT WHEN N52LA WAS IN THE CLIMB, HE 'HEARD SOME MISSING FROM THE ENGINE.' RPRTDLY, THE ACFT THEN STALLED, ENTERED A VERTICAL DSCNT & BGN SPINNING. IT IMPACTED THE GND NR THE DEP END OF RWY 10. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION WAS FND DRG THE INVESTIGATION. THE PLT POSSESSED A VALID STATEMENT OF ACROBATIC COMPETENCY & HAD PERFORMED IN A NUMBER OF AIRSHOWS IN THE PREVIOUS 3 YRS.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.