Yakovlev YAK-55M N176FD

Summary

On 1 June 2014 at about 17:22 local time, a Yakovlev YAK-55M registered N176FD was involved in an accident near Stevens Point, Wisconsin, 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

1 June 2014 at 17:22

Classification

Accident

Location

Stevens Point, Wisconsin, United States

Nearest airport

Stevens Point Municipal (STE)

Coordinates

44.5433, -89.5211

Aircraft

Yakovlev YAK-55M

Registration

N176FD

Category

Airplane

Year built

1993

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Air Race/Show

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Stevens Point → Stevens Point

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN14FA266

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to maintain airplane control during the aerobatic flight, which resulted in the airplane exceeding its critical angle of attack and entering an accelerated stall at a low altitude.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was performing an aerobatic flight at an airshow event when the accident occurred. The flight team manager witnessed the accident and reported that the airplane entered an intentional inverted flat spin at the apex of an inside loop maneuver. The airplane completed more than 3 rotations in the inverted flat spin before recovering into a dive. The team manager then saw the airplane pitch up and enter an "aggressive" left turn. A review of ground-based video footage confirmed the sequence of events reported by the team manager and showed that, after the pitch up and left roll, the airplane entered a nose-low, descending left spiral that continued to ground impact. The observed flight path was consistent with an accelerated aerodynamic stall after the pilot had recovered from the inverted spin at a low altitude. The airplane cockpit was equipped with an aft-facing video camera that captured the pilot and his flight control movements. A review of the available cockpit footage confirmed that the pilot remained conscious throughout the accident flight and that the ailerons, elevator, and engine had responded to his control inputs. Although the rudder was obstructed from view in the video by the pilot's helmeted head, his observed leg movements were consistent with expected rudder inputs throughout the flight. Further, a postaccident examination of the airplane did not reveal any mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.