Airborne Windsports EDGE X CLASSIC N701FP

Summary

On 5 May 2016 at about 15:25 local time, a Airborne Windsports EDGE X CLASSIC registered N701FP was involved in an accident near Rush City, Minnesota, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

5 May 2016 at 15:25

Classification

Accident

Location

Rush City, Minnesota, United States

Nearest airport

Rush City Regional (KROS)

Coordinates

45.6972, -92.9522

Aircraft

Airborne Windsports EDGE X CLASSIC

Registration

N701FP

Year built

2007

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Rush City → Rush City

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN16LA175

1 person died.

The student pilot's failure to maintain the appropriate pitch attitude during initial climb, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall. Contributing to the accident was the student pilot’s decision to conduct a solo flight without a solo endorsement in an aircraft in which he had no experience flying.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot was conducting a solo personal flight in the weight-shift-control aircraft. Video footage showed the airplane taking off, climbing to an estimated altitude of 300 to 400 ft, banking sharply left, descending, and then impacting terrain in a steep, nose-down attitude. The student did not have any solo endorsements on his student pilot certificate. The student had logged 14 hours in a different weight-shift-control aircraft but had never flown the accident aircraft type. The student's flight instructor said that he did not feel the student was ready to fly solo and that he had not endorsed him for solo flight. He further stated that the student mismanaged takeoffs and landings and had the tendency to "leave the [control] bar out" after takeoff instead of letting it come back, which increased the aircraft's pitch attitude and caused it to climb too steeply. It is likely that the student increased the aircraft's pitch attitude too much during the initial climb, which led to his loss of aircraft control and an aerodynamic stall.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.