Pitts S2C N102ZT

Summary

On 26 January 2014 at about 23:30 local time, a Pitts S2C registered N102ZT, operated by Dave Leonard, was involved in an accident near Roseburg, Oregon, 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

26 January 2014 at 23:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Roseburg, Oregon, United States

Nearest airport

Roseburg Regional Airport (RBG)

Coordinates

43.2389, -123.3558

Aircraft

Pitts S2C

Registration

N102ZT

Category

Airplane

Year built

2003

Engines

1

Operator

Dave Leonard

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Roseburg → Roseburg

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR14LA114

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s loss of orientation while scanning for airport traffic during the turn from the base to final legs of the traffic pattern, which resulted in his failure to maintain clearance from a tree.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot was conducting a local personal flight. The pilot reported that he entered the traffic pattern behind a much slower airplane and observed a second (high-wing) airplane on an apparent base leg about 1 mile south of the airport. The pilot made a right 360-degree turn while on the downwind leg for spacing. After reestablishing his position on the downwind leg, he requested position reports from local area traffic. The pilot in the first airplane in the traffic pattern reported clear of the runway; the accident pilot heard no other position reports and subsequently began a normal approach to the runway. Immediately before turning to final, the pilot from an unknown airplane transmitted that his airplane was on final for the same runway. The accident pilot then rolled the airplane wings level and checked the final approach path for traffic. He observed no traffic and subsequently rolled the airplane back into a left turn to final with a shallow left forward slip. As the airplane rolled onto short final, it collided with the upper portion of a tall tree. The pilot then landed the airplane successfully. The Federal Aviation Administration Digital Airport/Facility Directory noted that the runway had a displaced threshold of 371 ft due to a tree, which was also depicted on the airport diagram. It is likely that the pilot lost his orientation with respect to the tree when he diverted his scan to look for another airplane in the traffic pattern.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.