Hefner Pitts S1S accident near Van Nuys, CA
On August 17, 1997, a Hefner Pitts S1S (airplane) was involved in an accident near Van Nuys, CA. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- August 17, 1997
- Place
- Van Nuys, CA
- Aircraft
- Hefner Pitts S1S · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 34.190°N, 118.491°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001208X08663
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On August 17, 1997, at 1300 hours Pacific daylight time, an experimental Hefner-Pitts, S1S, N10HJ, was destroyed during a forced landing at Van Nuys, California. The pilot received fatal injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight, and no flight plan was filed nor required. The flight departed from runway 16R at the Van Nuys airport. The pilot requested a right-hand downwind departure to a practice area. About 1.5 miles northwest of the airport the pilot declared a "mayday" three times. Tower personnel observed the aircraft spiraling downward. Ground witnesses stated that the aircraft descended at a 45-degree angle into the four-lane residential area street. A path of wreckage debris paralleled the east-west street over a distance of 281 feet. PERSONNEL INFORMATION The private pilot was rated for single engine land airplanes. According to the pilot's logbook, at the time of the accident he had accumulated about 37 hours in the accident airplane. AIRCRAFT INFORMATION According to the logbook records, the airplane was amateur built January 7, 1988. The last inspection was documented as an annual inspection dated March 26, 1997. At that time, 410.4 hours were listed as the tachometer time. At the time of the accident the tachometer indicated 494.88 hours. The Lycoming HIO-360-D1A, engine was designed for helicopter applications. It is rated at 190 hp at 3,200 rpm. The Sensenich 76EM8 series propeller is designed to operate at a maximum of 2,700 rpm. The propeller also has a requirement for an instrument panel placard to disall
Probable cause
the operation of the propeller beyond the design rpm limitations and the resultant gyroscopic loads from aerobatics. Contributing to the accident was the lack of a required instrument panel rpm restriction for the propeller mandated by an airworthiness directive.
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Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
