Abbett Gerry LANCAIR EVOLUTION N7569A

Summary

On 8 February 2021 at about 01:44 local time, a Abbett Gerry LANCAIR EVOLUTION registered N7569A was involved in an accident near Saratoga, Wyoming, United States. 3 people were 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

8 February 2021 at 01:44

Classification

Accident

Location

Saratoga, Wyoming, United States

Coordinates

42.1000, -107.5800

Aircraft

Abbett Gerry LANCAIR EVOLUTION

Registration

N7569A

Category

Airplane

Year built

2016

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Afton → Valparaiso

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR21LA108

Nobody was injured.

A windshield failure during cruise flight due to stress concentrations in the bond area as a result of improper assembly of the windshield.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While in cruise flight at 27,000 ft mean sea level, the experimental, amateur-built airplane’s windshield shattered, followed immediately by a rapid decompression of the cabin. The pilot performed an emergency descent and landed uneventfully. The windshield was substantially damaged. Examination revealed that the fracture originated from a small crack located at the exterior surface of the windshield within the bonded edge. The presence of parallel linear scratches near the fracture origin and on the windshield edge suggests that the bonded area was not sanded in accordance with the build instructions. The evidence also suggests that the in-service stresses in the as-manufactured windshield were high enough to cause fractures from scratches that deviated from the build instructions; therefore, it is likely that the windshield failure was the result of stress concentrations in the bond area due to scratches made with methods inconsistent with the build instructions.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.