Stearman E75 N1370V

Summary

On 4 September 2010 at about 13:07 local time, a Stearman E75 registered N1370V, operated by James G Ratliff, was involved in an accident near Jackson, Georgia, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

4 September 2010 at 13:07

Classification

Accident

Location

Jackson, Georgia, United States

Nearest airport

Seven Lakes Airport (62GA)

Coordinates

33.3214, -83.9097

Aircraft

Stearman E75

Registration

N1370V

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

James G Ratliff

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Jackson → Tullahoma

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA10CA465

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's diverted attention toward an unsecured engine cowl door after takeoff which resulted in his failure to maintain airspeed and altitude. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s inadequate preflight inspection of the airplane.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, after takeoff, at an altitude of 100 feet above the ground, the engine’s right side cowling door became unsecured. He stated that the door was banging in the air flapping onto the top of the cowling. As the pilot began to maneuver toward the airport to land, the cowling started to move to the closed position, and the pilot attempted to further close the door with rudder input. The pilot stated that he was fixated on keeping the cowling closed and inadvertently let the airspeed slow to the point that the airplane started to descend rapidly. The pilot applied full power to recover, but did not have enough altitude to regain flying speed. The airplane impacted trees, resulting in substantial damage to the upper and lower wings. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the cowling camlocks and found them to be in good condition.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.