Low-Altitude Maneuvering · NTSB CEN12LA349
FLOWER ROGER P J D — Spring Valley, OH
| Date | June 9, 2012 |
| Location | Spring Valley, OH |
| Aircraft | FLOWER ROGER P J D (amateur-built) |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Day · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Maneuvering Sys/Comp malf/fail (non-power) |
| Pilot age | 73 |
| Pilot total time | Unknown |
| Time in type | Unknown |
| Fatalities | 1 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Aircraft-Aircraft structures-Wing structure-Spar (on wing)-Failure - C
What happened
The owner-designed and built experimental airplane crashed in a grass field in a rural area after the left wing separated in flight. The main wreckage included the fuselage, engine, tail surfaces, and the right wing; the left wing was located about 1/2 mile from the main wreckage. The left wing was mostly intact, but the wing control surfaces had separated. Examination of the inboard end of the left main wing spar revealed that the wood structure of the spar had failed and separated at the spar attachment bolt locations. No witnesses to the accident flight were identified; however, it is likely that the pilot was maneuvering when the wing separation occurred. Because the airplane was a unique design and investigators did not have access to the design parameters, it was not possible to determine precisely why the wing spar failed. Postaccident examination of the airframe revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation other than the separated wing spar previously described. Based on the available evidence, it is likely that the left wing spar failed and resulted in an in-flight separation of the wing and the airplane’s subsequent impact with the ground.