N350CP

On June 24, 2022, about 1518 central daylight time, a Glasair II FT airplane, N350CP, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Monee, Illinois. The pilot was seriously injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.

The pilot was conducting power-off aerodynamic stall recoveries about 3,000 ft msl. The pilot reported that the first three stall recoveries were unremarkable. However, before the fourth stall, the airplane’s deceleration rate and pitch attitude were greater than the previous three stall entries. The airplane snapped to the left and rolled inverted. It continued to roll and settled into an upright left spin with a relatively flat nose-down pitch attitude between 10° and 20°. Multiple attempts to recover from the spin were not successful. The airplane made about 6 complete rotations before it impacted the terrain. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings, the fuselage, and the empennage.

The pilot reported no malfunctions or failures associated with the airplane before the accident. He noted that initiating recovery at the first indication of the stall might have prevented the loss of control.