Cassutt IIIM accident near Pearland, TX
On September 2, 2004, a Cassutt IIIM (airplane) was involved in an accident near Pearland, TX. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- September 2, 2004
- Place
- Pearland, TX
- Aircraft
- Cassutt IIIM · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 29.521°N, 95.242°W
- NTSB ID
- 20040909X01382
NTSB summary
On September 1, 2004, approximately 1945 central daylight time, an amateur-built Cassutt IIIM single-engine airplane, N3TW, registered to and operated by a private individual, was destroyed when it impacted terrain following a loss of control while in the landing pattern at the Pearland Regional Airport (LVJ), near Pearland, Texas. The private pilot, sole occupant of the airplane, was fatally injured. Visual metrological conditions prevailed and a flight plan was not filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The local flight originated from LVJ approximately 40 minutes prior to the time of the accident. In a written statement, a witness, who was the pilot of a Cessna 206 that was on a left downwind for Runway 32R, at an altitude of 800 feet above ground level (agl), reported that he observed N3TW approximately 1/4 mile away "descending rapidly in a nose down attitude through approximately 500 feet agl." The witness stated that the airplane "fell straight down in a spin" until it impacted terrain. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, who responded to the site of the accident, another witness reported observing the airplane turn left base at a bank angle of approximately 90 degrees. A family member of the pilot reported to the FAA inspector that the pilot stated that the airplane had approximately 6 gallons of automotive gasoline onboard the airplane prior to departure. The pilot held a private pilot certificate with an airplane single engine land rating. His most recent Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) third class
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed sufficient for flight resulting in an inadvertent stall/spin while turning from the base leg of the traffic pattern to final. A contributing factor was the pilot's lack of experience for the make/model airplane.
More accidents in TX
- Kubicek BB85, Jul 30, 2016
- Robertson C-414, Jul 29, 1982
- Textron Aviation B-300, Jun 30, 2019
- Beech B100, Nov 26, 1983
- Consolidated-Vultee PBY-6A, Oct 13, 1984
Browse: Texas
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
