Low-Altitude Maneuvering · NTSB ERA11FA214
AEROSTAR S A YAK-52 — Palm Coast, FL
| Date | March 26, 2011 |
| Location | Palm Coast, FL |
| Aircraft | AEROSTAR S A YAK-52 |
| Purpose of flight | Air Race/Show |
| Conditions | Day · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Maneuvering-aerobatics Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) |
| Pilot age | 58 |
| Pilot total time | 3,500 hrs · High time |
| Time in type | Unknown |
| Fatalities | 1 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
- Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Altitude-Not attained/maintained - C
What happened
During the third and final aerobatic flight that day, after completing a loop maneuver called the “heart” maneuver, the pilot failed to recover from the nose-low descent before ground impact. A video recording of the last segment of the flight revealed no parts separated from the airplane.
The airplane was substantially damaged by impact forces and a postcrash fire that nearly consumed the fuselage and portions of both wings; however, there was no evidence of a preimpact failure or malfunction of the flight controls for roll, pitch, or yaw. The right flap was noted to be extended, which agreed with the as-found position of the single flap actuator. Although no brain tissue, blood, or cardiac tissue were available for examination at autopsy, analysis of the limited evidence available found nothing to support a medical cause for impairment or incapacitation.
Video evidence suggests that the airplane’s flightpath angle became shallower during the last 1.3 seconds of the recording, which was very near the time of impact, when compared with the earlier portion of the descent. Cursory examination of the engine and damage to the propeller blades suggest the engine was developing power at the moment of impact.