Pitts S-1 N177J

Summary

On 17 July 2004 at about 15:00 local time, a Pitts S-1 registered N177J was involved in an accident near Durham, North Carolina, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 July 2004 at 15:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Durham, North Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Lake Ridge Aero Park (8NC8)

Coordinates

36.0644, -78.7839

Aircraft

Pitts S-1

Registration

N177J

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Wilson → Durham

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL04LA158

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed which resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin and subsequent in-flight collision with terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to a witness the airplane was observed landing on runway 32. During the touchdown phase of the landing, the airplane bounced two times, followed by the pilot executing a go-around. According to the witness the airplane flew a very tight pattern circling to land again on runway 32. During the next approach to land the airplane was observed entering a "hard slip" to the left then nosed up as it was recovering from the slip, then entered a spin and collided with the ground at a slightly nose down attitude. The post accident examination of the airplane failed to disclose a mechanical malfunction or component failure.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.