Rutan DEFIANT N20SR

Summary

On 2 August 1997 at about 19:45 local time, a Rutan DEFIANT registered N20SR was involved in an accident near Alma, Michigan, United States. 3 people were on board and 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

2 August 1997 at 19:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Alma, Michigan, United States

Coordinates

43.3705, -84.6491

Aircraft

Rutan DEFIANT

Registration

N20SR

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Saranac Lake

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI97LA234

2 people had minor injuries.

the pilot did not perform an adequate preflight check and he did not perform the takeoff checklist. Factors included the pilot's inadequate design of the safety latch and the canopy inadvertently deploying.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported the aircraft climbed out normally until it reached 500 feet above ground level and then the canopy opened. The pilot loosened his shoulder harness in order to pull down the canopy. One of the passengers tried to hold the canopy closed while the pilot flew the airplane, but was unable to keep it closed. The canopy came open again and the pilot chose to execute an emergency landing into an old clearing which was surrounded by forest. During impact, the pilot was knocked unconscious, and one of the two passengers received minor injuries. The two passengers pulled the pilot from the airplane. He reported that he had not ensured that the canopy was properly latched, and the safety latch was not fully engaged when he had departed. The safety latch used on the airplane was not the safely latched specified by the designer of the airplane. The pilot reported he made four mistakes; they were: 'not fixing the headrest thinking that it was only a piece of loose foam, omitting the checklist for the final flight, omitting checking the latch, and when I changed Burt's [Rutan] safety latch system not coming up with a design that was better.'

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.