NTSB Factual Report

On December 13, 2015, at 1724 eastern standard time, an experimental light sport Golden Circle Air T Bird II, N92744, was destroyed after it departed controlled flight and crashed into trees and terrain after takeoff from Lower Creek Airport (NC27), Lenoir, North Carolina. The private pilot/owner was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight, which was conducted under the provisions of Title14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector who responded to the scene said he recovered a wing-mounted video camera, removed the data card, and downloaded the contents. Review of the data revealed the accident flight was captured on the card.

Examination of the video revealed that the camera was mounted on the left wing, pointed spanwise along the wing, and provided a view of the cockpit. The pilot could be seen with his left hand on the yoke, but his right hand, which was in the vicinity of the engine throttle, was obscured.

The airplane took off and completed the upwind leg of the traffic pattern, and initiated a turn to the right towards the crosswind leg. The sound of the engine was smooth and continuous throughout the takeoff and climb. As the airplane entered the turn, a reduction in power was heard, but the engine sound remained smooth and continuous. At the moment of power reduction and the initiation of the turn, the pilot simultaneously applied left aileron, right rudder, and back pressure on the yoke.

As the airplane rolled right and into a nose-down spin, the engine could be heard accelerating.

The "Remove Before Flight" flag on the locking pin for the Ballistic Recovery System (BRS) parachute deployment handle was observed in the camera's field of view, as the pilot struggled with one hand and then two hands to remove the pin during the descent. Eventually, the pilot freed the pin, and actuated the deployment handle as the nose of the airplane entered the tops of the trees.

The pilot held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single-engine land. His most recent second-class Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) medical certificate was issued on July 8, 2011, and he reported 40 total hours of flight experience on that date.

Examination of excerpts from the pilot's logbook revealed he had logged 90.6 total hours of flight experience, 25 hours of which were in the accident airplane make and model. The pilot logged 7 hours of flight experience in the 90 days prior to the accident, and 1.2 hours in the 30 days prior; all of which was in the accident airplane.

The airplane was manufactured in 2001. The maintenance records were not recovered, therefore the maintenance and inspection history of the airplane could not be determined.

At 1735, the weather recorded at Morgantown-Lenoir Airport, 10 miles southwest of the accident site, (MRN) included winds from 140 degrees at 3 knots.

Examination of the wreckage by the FAA inspector revealed no pre-impact mechanical anomalies. The BRS parachute was free from its canister, but was not fully deployed.

According to the FAA Airplane Flying Handbook:

The aerodynamic effects of the uncoordinated, cross-control stall can surprise the unwary pilot because it can occur with very little warning and can be deadly if it occurs close to the ground… A cross-control stall occurs when the critical AOA is exceeded with aileron pressure applied in one direction and rudder pressure in the opposite direction, causing uncoordinated flight. A skidding cross-control stall is most likely to occur in the traffic pattern during a poorly planned and executed base-to-final approach turn in which the airplane overshoots the runway centerline and the pilot attempts to correct back to centerline by increasing the bank angle, increasing back elevator pressure, and applying rudder in the direction of the turn (i.e., inside or bottom rudder pressure) to bring the nose around further to align it with the runway.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot’s failure to maintain airspeed and a coordinated turn in the traffic pattern, which resulted in the airplane exceeding its critical angle of attack and entering an aerodynamic stall and spin. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to remove the airframe parachute activation handle locking pin before flight.