Mattison STARDUSTER TOO N80T

Summary

On 28 June 2003 at about 17:40 local time, a Mattison STARDUSTER TOO registered N80T was involved in an accident near Ellicott, Colorado, 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

28 June 2003 at 17:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Ellicott, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Colo Springs East Airport (A50)

Coordinates

38.8728, -104.4117

Aircraft

Mattison STARDUSTER TOO

Registration

N80T

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Ellicott → Falcon

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN03FA113

1 person died.

the pilot's improper in-flight planning/decision to perform aerobatics at low altitude and the failed welds at the elevator horn and torque tube. Factors contributing to the accident were the pilot performing aerobatics at low altitude, his inability to maintain aircraft control after the elevator attachment failed, the poor welds at the elevator horn and torque tube, the builder's poor installation of the elevator, and inadequate conditional inspections that failed to reveal the problem with the welds.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The purpose of the flight was to ferry the airplane from one airport to another. The airplane's owner told the pilot not to do anything fancy. Witnesses said the airplane took off, circled the pattern, and made a low pass over the runway at approximately 200 feet agl. About midway down the runway, the airplane make a slow roll to the right. Approximately two-thirds of the way through the roll, the airplane flew into the ground at a steep angle, destroying the airplane on impact. An examination of the airplane's elevator horn and interconnect torque tube showed that the elevator horn attachment was composed of two "c" section channels that were welded to the tube. Very little of the forward portions of the "c" sections were directly welded to the tube. The fractures observed in those areas were through the weld bead slightly away from the "c" sections. The aft portion of the right "c" section was broken. The weld in this area was intact. On the aft portion of the left "c" section, the weld was fractured along areas of incomplete fusion. The fractures observed were consistent with the application of air load forces pushing aft on the lower end of the elevator horn. No other preimpact anomalies were found. The airplane's owner said he recently purchased the airplane. He said when he purchased it, the previous owner had just performed a conditional inspection of the airplane. The current owner said he did not pull the inspection panels at the elevator prior to purchasing the airplane. He said he didn't think there would be any problems with the airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.