Shepard Jimmy D Jr PITTS S1D accident near Port Richey, FL
On May 21, 2012, a Shepard Jimmy D Jr PITTS S1D (airplane) was involved in an accident near Port Richey, FL. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- May 21, 2012
- Place
- Port Richey, FL
- Aircraft
- Shepard Jimmy D Jr PITTS S1D · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 28.284°N, 82.736°W
- NTSB ID
- 20120521X35247
Official records · ERA12FA345
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
***This report was modified on May 8, 2013. Please see the docket for this accident to view the original report.*** HISTORY OF FLIGHT On May 21, 2012, at 1210 eastern daylight time, an experimental, amateur-built Pitts S1D, N360MW, was substantially damaged when it impacted the waters of the Gulf of Mexico while conducting aerobatic maneuvers about 200 to 400 yards from the shoreline near Port Richey, Florida. The airline transport pilot was fatally injured. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local flight, which departed Hidden Lake Airport (FA40), New Port Richey, Florida, at 1145. According to the pilot’s father-in-law, the pilot was conducting aerobatic maneuvers over the Gulf of Mexico, while his family observed from a nearby park. During the demonstration, the witness watched as the pilot performed aileron rolls, wingovers, loops, and stalls. Immediately prior to the accident, the pilot initiated a loop at an altitude between 300 and 500 feet above the water. Upon reaching the apex of the loop, while the airplane was inverted, the airplane began to descend, and the witness observed that the airplane did not appear to have sufficient altitude to recover from the maneuver. The witness believed that the pilot may have attempted to recover from the maneuver before the airplane impacted the water in a nose down, left wing low attitude. The witness also reported that there was no discernible change in the sound of the engi
Probable cause
The pilot's decision to conduct aerobatic flight at a low altitude, which resulted in a collision with the water.
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Browse: Florida
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
