Purvis RANS S6S N743RP

Summary

On 28 May 2007 at about 00:00 local time, a Purvis RANS S6S registered N743RP, operated by Richard B. Moroniak, was involved in an accident near Newark, Illinois, 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

28 May 2007 at 00:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Newark, Illinois, United States

Nearest airport

Cushing Field (0C8)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Purvis RANS S6S

Registration

N743RP

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Richard B. Moroniak

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Newark → Newark

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI07LA157

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane which resulted in inadequate airspeed and a subsequent stall. Contributing to the accident were the pilot's improper installation of the altimeter and airspeed indicator which rendered them inoperative and his lack of experience in the airplane.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The sport pilot purchased the airplane a month prior to the accident. Witnesses reported seeing the airplane takeoff. They reported that just after liftoff, the nose of the airplane went straight up and the airplane climbed to an altitude of 100 to 200 feet above the runway. One witness stated the airplane was in a 90-degree nose up attitude. They stated the airplane then drifted to the left and stalled. The witnesses reported the pilot made no visible attempt to recover from the stall. The airplane impacted the terrain off the left side of the runway. Examination of the wreckage estabilshed engine and flight control continuity. The pilot contacted the aircraft builder shortly before the accident stating that he did not like the digital instruments that were installed in the airplane. The pilot discussed installing airspeed and altimeter gauges. Inspection of the airplane revealed that airspeed and altimeter gauges had been installed in the airplane. The altimeter was installed, but had not been connected to the static port. The line connection on the back of the altimeter was capped with a plastic plug. The airspeed indicator was connected to the static port only. The instrument panel cutouts were found in the pilot's hangar. The pilot's logbook showed he had 155 hours of ultralight flight time and 42 hours of flight time in light sport airplanes. The logbook showed he had a total of 1.5 hours of flight time in the accident airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.