Vans RV4 accident near Cameron, NC
On October 14, 2019, a Vans RV4 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Cameron, NC. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- October 14, 2019
- Place
- Cameron, NC
- Aircraft
- Vans RV4 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 35.272°N, 79.254°W
- NTSB ID
- 20191015X65516
Official records · ERA20FA009
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn October 14, 2019, at 1156 eastern daylight time, an experimental, amateur-built Vans RV-4, N4332J, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Cameron, North Carolina. The private pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. According to a friend of the pilot, who was also his flight instructor, the accident pilot departed from Rooster Field Airport (84NC), Cameron, North Carolina, to Woodward Field Airport (CDN), Camden, South Carolina, on Saturday morning, October 12, 2019, to attend an Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) fly-in. Later that afternoon, during the takeoff climb for the return flight, the airplane's canopy separated from the airframe, and the accident pilot returned and landed uneventfully at CDN. The pilot told him via telephone on Saturday evening that the airplane "flew alright" without the canopy, did not sustain any other damage, and when the weather improved on Monday, he planned to complete the return flight to 84NC without the canopy and would wear a motorcycle helmet with a facemask. The flight instructor advised him not to fly the airplane without the canopy. According to a private pilot based at CDN, he met the accident pilot for the first time at the EAA fly-in and they planned to fly their respective airplanes in a loose formation to 84NC on Monday morning. He reported that they both arrived at CDN about 0930 Monday, fueled their airplanes, which he observed to be a top-off for the accident airplane, and departed; he added th
Probable cause
The pilot's exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack during the landing approach, which resulted in a loss of control and a subsequent aerodynamic stall/spin. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's decision to fly the airplane in a configuration for which it was not certificated and in which the flight characteristics were not known.
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Browse: North Carolina · Vans 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.
