Amateur-built Pitts Model 12 accident near Marion, Mississippi, February 12, 2005
On February 12, 2005 at about 9:30 pm local time, a amateur-built Pitts Model 12, registered N20GT, was destroyed in an accident near Marion, Mississippi. It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 2 people were killed. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane while performing a low altitude, aerobatic maneuver, which resulted in an uncontrolled descent, and an in-flight collision with terrain. A factor associated with the accident was the initiation of a low altitude aerobatic maneuver.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- February 12, 2005 · about 9:30 pm local time
- Place
- Marion, Mississippi · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 2 people were killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built Pitts Model 12
- Registration
- N20GT · no longer on the register · serial 86
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The commercial certificated pilot/owner was conducting a low altitude aerobatic flight maneuver in an experimental, amateur-built airplane under Title 14, CFR Part 91 when the accident occurred. An FAA inspector who traveled to the site said a witness told him that the airplane had just completed a loop when it rolled abruptly to the left and dove into the ground. The inspector said the airplane impacted the ground in a near vertical attitude. Additional witnesses told the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), that the pilot/owner typically performed single aerobatic maneuvers at 800-1,000 feet above the ground. One witness told the IIC that she saw the airplane descending in a spiral, as she had seen before, but the spiral was tighter and faster than before. She said the pilot did not pull out at the usual height, and descended below the trees. The first person to the accident site was a student pilot and friend of the accident pilot. He said he and his wife watched the accident airplane perform a loop and then enter a counter-clockwise spin at the bottom of the loop. A postcrash fire consumed most of the airplane. During the on-site examination, the FAA inspector found the right cable attachment point to the rudder horn had fractured, and the cable was disconnected. The rudder horn assembly was sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory for analysis. The analysis disclosed that prior to the fracture, the outboard portion of the horn, where the cable was attached, was bent downward almost perpendicular to its normal plane of rotation. Information received from the rudder horn manufacturer indicated that under normal flight control inputs, there are no mechanical loads that would account for the deformation of the rudder horn prior to the fracture. The airplane was kit-built, and maintained by the pilot under the "condition inspection" criteria. No pilot, airframe, or engine logbooks, were discovered for examination. No evidence of any preimpact mechanical anomaly was found.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: commercial pilot
- Ratings: single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 1,580 hours in all
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (with waivers/limitations)
- Seat: rear
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Last inspection: condition inspection
- Maximum gross weight: 2,300 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Vendeneyev M14PF (piston); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
The flight
- Departed from: 0MS0 Topton Air MS at 8:45 pm
- Flight plan: none
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N20GT the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.