Sater COOT A-AMPHIB N8VS

Summary

On 23 November 2012 at about 23:30 local time, a Sater COOT A-AMPHIB registered N8VS, operated by Russell Hackler, was involved in an accident near San Andreas, California, 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

23 November 2012 at 23:30

Classification

Accident

Location

San Andreas, California, United States

Nearest airport

Calaveras CO-Maury Rasmussen (CPU)

Coordinates

38.1461, -120.6481

Aircraft

Sater COOT A-AMPHIB

Registration

N8VS

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Russell Hackler

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Andreas → San Andreas

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR13LA050

1 person died.

The pilot's excessive flight control inputs, which led to flight that exceeded the structural limits of the airplane and resulted in structural failure of both wings.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

A witness observed the airplane in a steep bank (estimated at between 60 and 80 degrees) while turning from the base leg to final approach in the traffic pattern. He then observed the airplane enter a spin and stated the airplane was in a near vertical nose-down attitude when the right wing separated from the airframe. Another witness reported that after the airplane’s first spin revolution, the leading edge came off of a wing and that during the second spin revolution the other wing separated. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that both wings had separated from the airplane about the same spanwise location (about 17 inches outboard of the wing attach points). The right wing’s front spar fracture face showed areas of tension and compression failures of the wood fibers that were consistent with the wing failing in a downward direction. Both the leading edge and front spar of the left wing had diagonal cuts through them that were consistent with having been struck by the airplane’s propeller. The inboard front spar fracture face was examined, but the fiber failures were destroyed by the ground impact, so a directionality of failure could not be determined. However, the propeller strike on the leading edge and front spar could only occur if the left wing failed upward into the propeller. There were no obvious signs of rot or preexisting conditions in the wood spars examined, and none of the wing attachment bolts failed. The witness reports indicating that the airplane was in a continuous steepening turn from the downwind leg to final approach immediately before the accident and the observed damage suggest that the pilot’s control inputs stressed the airplane’s wings beyond their design capabilities.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.