This record has been locked for editing.
| Date: | Saturday 13 August 2011 |
| Time: | 11:30 |
| Type: |  Van's RV-6 |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N16DD |
| MSN: | 60267 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Lake Conroe, TX -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The RV-6 collided with the RV-8 from below while maneuvering during day visual meteorological conditions. The RV-6 descended uncontrolled to ground impact, and the pilot of the RV-8 made a forced landing in a field. The two airplanes were part of group of seven airplanes practicing formation flight maneuvers for an upcoming airshow. According to the pilot of the RV-8, the RV-6 and another airplane were instructed to move into trail positions behind the RV-8. He saw the two airplanes drift back and out of view. About 5 seconds later, the pilot of the RV-8 heard a loud bang and immediately his airplane's engine stopped operating. He did not see the RV-6. The pilot of the other airplane that was moving into the trail position with the RV-6 said that the RV-6 was supposed to be the last airplane in this formation, but instead it moved directly behind the RV-8. The pilot thought that maybe the RV-6 pilot forgot which slot he was supposed to take, so he let the RV-6 have the position and moved behind the RV-6. Shortly after, he observed the RV-6 drift beneath and then climb up and collide with the RV-8. The collision was not violent. He then saw the two airplanes separate, and the RV-6 slowly nosed over into a 60-degree nose-down descent toward the ground. He reported that the pilot of the RV-6 "didn't seem in control of his airplane" before the collision and might have been incapacitated. However, he did not observe anything unusual with the pilot of the RV-6 that would have indicated a possible medical condition before or during the flight. Autopsy and toxicological testing of the RV-6 pilot revealed no evidence of impairment or incapacitation. Although incapacitation or impairment of the RV-6 pilot could explain why he failed to maintain clearance from the RV-8, there is insufficient evidence to determine whether this occurred.
Probable Cause: The failure of the pilot of the RV-6 airplane to maintain clearance from the RV-8 airplane while practicing formation flight.
Sources:
NTSB
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 13-Aug-2011 12:55 | harro | Added |
| 13-Aug-2011 17:50 | RobertMB | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Other fatalities, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:26 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency, ] |
| 08-Apr-2017 19:23 | junior sjc | Updated [Departure airport, Source, Damage, ] |
| 27-Nov-2017 17:05 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, ] |
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