Pitts

At 1545 Pacific time, an Aviat Pitts S-2C was damaged when it crashed inverted after dragging a wing during an air show at Moffett Federal Airfield. The pilot suffered minor injuries. The pilot said he was executing a series of low altitude slow rolls, about 35 feet agl, when the left wing contacted the runway. The airplane descended to the runway inverted and slid to a stop….

At approximately 1030 central time, an Aerotek Pitts S-2A was damaged when it lost part of a wing while maneuvering near Grand Prairie Municipal Airport. The pilot and his passenger were not injured. The pilot said he was performing a power-off stall and the airplane entered a spin. As he recovered from the spin, a four-foot section of the bottom left wing separated. The pilot was able to fly the airplane back to GPM….

At 1215 mountain time, a Christen Industries Pitts S-2B crashed in a field three miles north of Longmont, killing the pilot and passenger. Witnesses said the airplane was in a vertical climb, ran out of airspeed, nosed over and came down in a spiral. They also reported hearing the engine surging, then fail. The airplane had departed about 2:15 earlier, and the endurance of a Pitts S-2B with full tanks is about 1.7 hours, but there was no preliminary information about a fuel stop….

At 1708 central time, an Aviat S-2C crashed following an aerobatic flight near Sheridan, killing the flight instructor and pilot. A witness reported observing the airplane perform aerobatic maneuvers adjacent to the accident site for approximately five minutes prior to the accident. He stated that the airplane climbed to approximately 1,500 – 2,000 feet above the ground in a pure vertical maneuver that ended in a tail slide. The airplane then fell backwards toward the ground for approximately 200 feet and began to spin inverted for approximately 6-10 turns….

At about 17:40 EDT, a homebuilt Pitts S-1S crashed near Westtown, killing the pilot. A witness flying with the accident pilot in a separate airplane, said the accident pilot wanted to practice her sportsman aerobatics routine for an upcoming competition. The witness stayed about -mile to the east and watched the accident pilot practice. The accident pilot entered her aerobatics sequence approximately 3,500 feet msl, and completed several maneuvers before entering a spin to the left. After 1 turns the airplanes rotation started to slow, but then accelerated two turns later. About seven turns into the spin, the witness received a radio transmission from the accident pilot in which she sai…

At 10:42 MDT, a Pitts S-2B crashed 4 miles southeast of Steamboat Springs, killing the two occupants. The flight had originated at Steamboat Springs at approximately 10:15. Several witnesses said the pilot performed a hammerhead stall, and then the airplane entered a flat spin. One witness, who had seen the pilot perform this maneuver before, said the pilot began the maneuver way too low….

At 18:30 CDT, a Pitts S-1-11B biplane was substantially damaged following a loss of control while executing a precautionary landing following an engine/propeller overspeed near Katy. The pilot was not injured. The pilot said he had been operating in the aerobatic box above the airport for about 15 minutes. He had performed a hammerhead stall and the propeller and engine oversped, so he elected to make a precautionary landing on runway 27. He said he touched down about mid-field and applied brakes to exit the runway but the left brake failed. The airplane ground looped and came to rest inverted. The inspector verified that the master cylinder for the left brake had failed, and braking was not…

At 10:34 PST, a homebuilt Pitts S1X crashed while performing an aerobatic routine at an airshow at Cable Airport. The pilot was killed. Witnesses said the pilot dove into the aerobatic box, performed three snap rolls to the right and recovered. The second time he entered the box, the pilot performed three snap rolls to the left, and, as he rotated about of the way around on the third to fourth snap roll, he seemed to experience what witnesses called some sort of problem. The pilot arrested the snap roll and transitioned into an upright flat spin. At that point, the pilot pulled the power back to idle. In the second turn of the spin, the airplane was about 200 to 300 feet agl. The witness…

At 10:30 CST, an Aerotek Pitts S-2A struck a golf cart while landing on runway 14 at Shelby County Airport, killing the driver of the golf cart and leaving the pilot uninjured. The golf cart was being used to apply weed killer adjacent to runway 14 and was about five feet off the side of the 200-foot-wide runway. The airplane struck the vehicle about 500 to 600 feet from the point of touchdown….

At about 12:45 eastern time, a Pitts S-2B crashed while maneuvering to land at Brookhaven Airport, killing the flight instructor and leaving the commercial pilot/student seriously injured. The student pilot broadcast a simulated engine-out landing and turned toward the runway. However, a witness said the airplane appeared very slow and very, very low. He then saw the right wing drop and the airplane struck the ground in the clear area just short of runway 24. The instructor had more than 3,000 hours, and the second pilot had about 350 hours. No pre-accident anomalies were found….