Clark PITTS S1X N900SH

Summary

On 8 January 2000 at about 18:34 local time, a Clark PITTS S1X registered N900SH was involved in an accident near Upland, California, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

8 January 2000 at 18:34

Classification

Accident

Location

Upland, California, United States

Nearest airport

Cable (CCB)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Clark PITTS S1X

Registration

N900SH

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX00LA068

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to recover from an intentional aerobatic maneuver.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During an air show, while conducting aerobatic maneuvers, the airplane continued in a spin to ground impact. According to witnesses, the pilot was performing an aerobatic routine with two other airplanes, known as a "squirrel cage" maneuver. The airplanes would take turns entering the aerobatic box to perform a single choreographed maneuver. The routine card indicated that the pilot was to perform multiple snap rolls when the accident occurred. A video of the pilot's routine was examined with the assistance of members of the International Aerobatic Club. The video showed that the pilot made 3 1/2 snap rolls to the right, and then 2 1/2 spins to the left. It appeared there was no flight control problem and the pilot entered a flat spin. The elevator appeared to be loaded and the pilot never broke the stall prior to impact. The pilot had written a magazine article advocating a specific spin recovery method.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.