Caughran Terry FLIGHTSTAR II N82652

Summary

On 14 January 2016 at about 19:05 local time, a Caughran Terry FLIGHTSTAR II registered N82652 was involved in an accident near Wake, Virginia, 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

14 January 2016 at 19:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Wake, Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Hummel Field (W75)

Coordinates

37.5653, -76.4492

Aircraft

Caughran Terry FLIGHTSTAR II

Registration

N82652

Category

Airplane

Year built

1995

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Wake → Gloucester

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA16FA089

1 person died.

Failure of the left wing in flight due to compression loading from wing loads combined with preexisting damage.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The sport pilot was conducting a personal cross-county flight back to his home airport in visual flight rules conditions. While climbing through an altitude of about 1,000 ft msl, the airplane's left wing suffered a catastrophic failure, folding upward and rendering the airplane uncontrollable. The airplane descended to ground impact in heavily wooded terrain. Examination of the left wing revealed that the forward wing spar likely fractured due to compression loading from wing loads combined with preexisting damage on the leading edge, leading to an overstress condition about 4 ft outboard of the fracture location. No indications of fatigue cracks were observed. Damage patterns indicated that the preexisting damage was likely due to an impact on the leading edge. Examination of the wing did not reveal any bird strike residue, and a witness's observation made on the morning of the accident that an area of the left wing about 4 ft outboard of the wing root appeared to be deformed indicated that damage to the wing likely occurred before the accident flight. While it is possible that this damage occurred 5 days before the accident when the right landing gear wheel broke off and the right axle dug into the ground during landing at the end of the previous flight, the source of the damage observed by the witness could not be definitively determined. The pilot had a history of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and a coronary artery bypass. In addition, he had a pacemaker implanted. Atorvastatin, a cholesterol lowering medication, and sotalol, an antiarrhythmic heart medication, were found during toxicology. However, there was no evidence that the pilot's heart disease or medications impaired his performance or incapacitated him.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.