Rans S-10 N190SP

Summary

On 19 October 2003 at about 21:35 local time, a Rans S-10 registered N190SP, operated by Timothy D. Adcox, was involved in an accident near Ponder, Texas, 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

19 October 2003 at 21:35

Classification

Accident

Location

Ponder, Texas, United States

Coordinates

33.1917, -97.3253

Aircraft

Rans S-10

Registration

N190SP

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Timothy D. Adcox

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Ponder → Ponder

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW04LA014

1 person died.

The pilot's decision to conduct low altitude maneuvering flight and his failure to maintain adequate airspeed.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to several witnesses, the homebuilt experimental airplane was maneuvering above the private pilot's residence when they observed the airplane "pitch up," and then stall, before impacting the ground in a nose low attitude. One witness, who was a neighbor of the 314-hour pilot, reported that the pilot took off from a field in front of his house and made a pass over his front yard approximately 200 feet agl. While passing over the field, the pilot appeared to "lean out of the right side" of the cockpit and "waved" at his neighbors. The airplane then pitched nose up, rolled to the right, and flew "straight into the ground" in a nose-down attitude. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the airplane appeared to have impacted the ground in a nose-low attitude. All flight control surfaces appeared to have no pre-impact anomalies. Flight control cables and push-pull tubes did not show evidence of pre-impact failures or binding.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.