N67PN

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn May 26, 2017, about 1230 central daylight time, an Aerotek Pitts S 2A biplane, N67PN, impacted terrain during a descent near Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin. The pilot and pilot rated passenger were fatally injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed in the area about the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight, which originated from the Sheboygan County Memorial Airport (SBM), near Sheboygan, Wisconsin, about 1210.

The purpose of the flight was to perform a fly-by over a nearby racetrack. The pilot rated passenger in the front seat reportedly sent a text about 1220 during the fly-by.

According to a flight instructor at SBM, about 1210, he and some students were listening to the common traffic advisory frequency and heard the pilot report that the Bonanza was on a straight in final for runway 13. The flight instructor observed a red biplane (the accident airplane) depart runway 13 and make a "sharp" left turn to the north. The instructor reported that the turn was low to the ground and that the airplane cleared the trees by 50 to 100 ft. The airplane then departed to the west/southwest at a "lower than normal" altitude.

A witness near the racetrack reported that she heard the sound of an airplane about 1230 and that, seconds later, the sound "abruptly ceased." She observed the airplane traveling eastbound in a level attitude for several seconds before it entered a nose-down, vertical attitude and spiraled clockwise to the ground.

Another witness reported they heard the airplane flying in the area and his friend pointed the airplane out when it came into sight. The witness observed the airplane climb rapidly and then enter a "90° angle". As it reached the apex of it's climb, "it sounded like the plane's engine stalled." The airplane then entered a nose-down, "corkscrewing" descent toward the ground. He reported that it sounded like the pilots were trying to start the engine but were unable. He said they did not see the crash because of some trees, but did hear "a loud thump" which the witness described as the sound of the airplane impacting the ground.

A third witness reported that the airplane entered a "straight up climb until it stalled. The plane proceeded to roll upside down in a flat manner" and that's when he heard the engine stall. The airplane then entered a nose-down spin. During the spin, the rate of rotation slowed, and as the airplane got closer to the ground, the witness heard the engine "sputter, but not fire up." The airplane then disappeared behind trees on top of a hill. A couple of seconds later, the witness hear the sound of the airplane impacting the ground. PERSONNEL INFORMATIONThe 66-year-old pilot, who was seated in the aft seat, held a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airline transport pilot certificate with an airplane multi-engine land rating. He also held commercial pilot privileges in single-engine land and sea airplanes and type ratings for the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and Boeing 757, 767, and 777 airplanes. The pilot was issued an FAA first-class medical certificate on April 20, 2017, with a limitation to wear corrective lenses. The pilot reported on the application for that medical certificate that he had accumulated 16,300 hours total flight experience and 150 hours in six months before the application. The pilot attended a recurrent King Air course in October, 2016. In connection with the course, the course instructor gave the pilot FAA Wings credit on October 6, 2016, through the Wings website. This recurrent course was in addition to the King Air initial course that the pilot previously attended.

A flight instructor, that sold the accident airplane to the pilot in August, 2013 reported that the pilot's Pitts S 2A check out training consisted of ground and flight instruction in the accident airplane. The instruction, in part, included Lycoming engine operation with Bendix fuel injection, fuel system operation, management of fuel from the top tank, range and endurance planning, start-up procedures, leaning procedures, weight and balance, normal and aerobatic loading, proper trimming of the airplane, P factor, torque and gyroscopic forces, slow flight, angle of attack control, stall recognition, stall prevention, stall recovery power on and off, how to recognize the incipient spin, recovery from normal upright, inverted, accelerated, crossover, and flat spins by the normal recovery method, the power-on method, and the emergency maneuver recovery method, upset recovery, engine-out approach and landing, in-flight power loss recovery, and emergency landing field determination.

The 19-year-old pilot-rated passenger, who was seated in the front seat, held an FAA private pilot certificate with airplane single-engine land and instrument airplane ratings. He was issued an FAA third-class medical certificate on June 15, 2015, with no limitations. He did not report his flight experience on the application for that medical certificate. AIRCRAFT INFORMATIONThe accident airplane was a 1981 model Aerotek Pitts S 2A factory-built, tandem two-seat, single-engine, fixed-gear tailwheel biplane. It was equipped with a 200-horsepower aerobatic Lycoming AEIO-360-A1E engine, with serial No. L-20565-51A. A three-bladed MT propeller, model MTV-9-B-C/ C188-18b, serial No. 140237, was installed in accordance with supplemental type certificate No. SA00457DE. The airplane was equipped with a 24-gallon fuselage fuel tank with a usable fuel capacity of 23 gallons. A bill of sale showed the pilot purchased the airplane on August 20, 2013.

A mechanic reported that he recovered and repainted the airplane during January of 2016. The mechanic replaced fuel hoses and the fuel tank flop tube, and modified the airplane by installing an additional 5-gallon fuel tank. The mechanic flew the airplane through "all aerobatic" maneuvers and spins, during which the airplane recovered from the spins using normal and emergency recovery methods. An endorsement in the airplane logbook stated that the airplane had an annual inspection completed on March 23, 2017, as of that date, it had accumulated 2,258.7 hours total time.

The airplane flight manual (AFM) listed the airplane's maximum gross weight in the normal category as 1,575 lbs and a maximum gross weight in the acrobatic category as 1,500 lbs. The airplane's most aft center of gravity at maximum gross weight in the normal category was 96.13 inches and most aft center of gravity at maximum gross weight in the acrobatic category was 96.50 inches. The airplane's most aft center of gravity in the normal category was 97.50 inches at 1,472 lbs and most aft center of gravity in the acrobatic category was 97.12 at 1,440 lbs.

The AFM In-Flight Engine Restart procedure, in, part stated:

1. Pull mixture control to: IDLE CUT-OFF

2. Establish glide at: 100 MPH [Indicated Air Speed]

3. Fuel selector: ON

4. Master switch: ON

5. Throttle: OPEN 1/4 FULL

6. Engage starter to start propeller windmilling, if it is not turning.

7. Advance mixture control to: FULL RICH

Both the type certificate holder's test pilot and an aerobatic flight school that uses Pitts airplanes indicated that the recovery procedures must be started immediately upon engine failure.

The airplane was based at the Burlington Municipal Airport (BUU), near Burlington, Wisconsin. A fuel receipt showed that the owner purchased 11 gallons of 100LL aviation gasoline at BUU at 1535, the day before the accident. The distance from BUU to SBM was about 68 nautical miles. The airplane was observed departing from BUU with only the pilot on board about 1015 on the day of the accident. METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATIONAt 1153, the recorded weather at SBM included wind from 160° at 5 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, sky condition clear, temperature 16° C, dew point 13° C, and an altimeter setting of 29.86 inches of mercury. AIRPORT INFORMATIONThe accident airplane was a 1981 model Aerotek Pitts S 2A factory-built, tandem two-seat, single-engine, fixed-gear tailwheel biplane. It was equipped with a 200-horsepower aerobatic Lycoming AEIO-360-A1E engine, with serial No. L-20565-51A. A three-bladed MT propeller, model MTV-9-B-C/ C188-18b, serial No. 140237, was installed in accordance with supplemental type certificate No. SA00457DE. The airplane was equipped with a 24-gallon fuselage fuel tank with a usable fuel capacity of 23 gallons. A bill of sale showed the pilot purchased the airplane on August 20, 2013.

A mechanic reported that he recovered and repainted the airplane during January of 2016. The mechanic replaced fuel hoses and the fuel tank flop tube, and modified the airplane by installing an additional 5-gallon fuel tank. The mechanic flew the airplane through "all aerobatic" maneuvers and spins, during which the airplane recovered from the spins using normal and emergency recovery methods. An endorsement in the airplane logbook stated that the airplane had an annual inspection completed on March 23, 2017, as of that date, it had accumulated 2,258.7 hours total time.

The airplane flight manual (AFM) listed the airplane's maximum gross weight in the normal category as 1,575 lbs and a maximum gross weight in the acrobatic category as 1,500 lbs. The airplane's most aft center of gravity at maximum gross weight in the normal category was 96.13 inches and most aft center of gravity at maximum gross weight in the acrobatic category was 96.50 inches. The airplane's most aft center of gravity in the normal category was 97.50 inches at 1,472 lbs and most aft center of gravity in the acrobatic category was 97.12 at 1,440 lbs.

The AFM In-Flight Engine Restart procedure, in, part stated:

1. Pull mixture control to: IDLE CUT-OFF

2. Establish glide at: 100 MPH [Indicated Air Speed]

3. Fuel selector: ...