Boeing A75N N66004

Summary

On 7 October 2007 at about 15:43 local time, a Boeing A75N registered N66004, operated by John D. King, was involved in an accident near Bealeton, Virginia, United States. 2 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

7 October 2007 at 15:43

Classification

Accident

Location

Bealeton, Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Flying Circus Aerodrome (3VA3)

Coordinates

38.5506, -77.7158

Aircraft

Boeing A75N

Registration

N66004

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

John D. King

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Air Race/Show

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Midland → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC08LA007

2 people had minor injuries.

The pilot's failure to conduct performance planning before takeoff.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot of the 1941 Boeing A75N (Stearman) reported that the airplane powered up as expected, "accelerated normally, [and] perhaps [took] a little longer than usual on the takeoff roll." The airplane lifted off the grass strip but would not climb before it struck trees and wires and was destroyed by a postcrash fire. The pilot said that there were no deficiencies in the airplane's performance and handling. When asked what may have caused the accident, the pilot stated that he didn't know but that the high density-altitude, the airplane's high gross weight, and a tailwind "didn't help." Although the performance charts provided by the airplane's owner were for an airplane with a lower gross weight and contained no tailwind adjustment data, the pilot reported that he had never seen the charts and that he did not conduct any performance planning before the takeoff.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.