Cirrus VK30 accident near Duluth, MN
On March 22, 1996, a Cirrus VK30 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Duluth, MN. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- March 22, 1996
- Place
- Duluth, MN
- Aircraft
- Cirrus VK30 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 46.840°N, 92.220°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001208X05368
Official records · CHI96FA116
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On March 22, 1996, at 1220 central standard time (cst), an Experimental Cirrus VK30, N44VK, piloted by a commercial pilot, was destroyed after a collision with terrain, following an uncontrolled descent. The commercial rated pilot was fatally injured in the accident. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The 14 CFR Part 91 flight was not operating on a flight plan. The airplane was on a local test flight, attempting to validate stall characteristics with different settings of wing flaps and landing gear. The pilot of the chase airplane, and the on board video camera confirmed that N44VK departed controlled flight before impacting the terrain. FLIGHT RECORDERS A video camera on board N44VK was recording the reactions of yarn tufts attached to the upper surface of the right wing during stalls. The video tape's case and tape were damaged during the accident. On Sunday, March 24, 1996, at the office of Pro Video Productions, Duluth, Minnesota, the original video was repaired. All of the tape was recovered except for approximately one second at the end of the tape. The video tape ends before N44VK impacts with the terrain. A video technician stated that during the maneuver the tape most likely pulled away from the heads of the recorder, causing the recorder to terminate recording. The unedited duplicate of this tape is included as an attachment to this report. WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION The airplane came to rest in a upright position on a magnetic heading of 150 degrees. The coordinates obtained from a police global positi
Probable cause
the inadequate handling/performance design capabilities of the airplane which resulted in the inability to recover from an aft center of gravity spin. Factors were the lack of any antispin or deep stall recovery devices, and the aft center of gravity.
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Browse: Minnesota · Cirrus aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
