Amateur-built Varieze accident near Chesapeake, Virginia, October 3, 2007
On October 3, 2007 at about 10:18 pm local time, a amateur-built Varieze, registered N8VE, was destroyed in an accident near Chesapeake, Virginia (Chesapeake Regional Airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person was killed. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
A loss of control in flight for undetermined reasons.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- October 3, 2007 · about 10:18 pm local time
- Place
- Chesapeake, Virginia · Chesapeake Regional Airport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built Varieze
- Registration
- N8VE · no longer on the register · serial 1996
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot/owner's girlfriend stated that the purpose of the flight was to test the speed brake installed in the amateur-built airplane. She quoted the pilot as saying that during the first hour he owned the airplane, he tried the speed brake and it really scared him. He had since accumulated 70 total hours in the airplane and was going to try the speed brake again. Witnesses described watching the accident airplane taxi from its hangar and then listening to the pilot announce the takeoff, crosswind, and downwind legs of the traffic pattern over the Unicom frequency. Seconds later, the witnesses heard a voice transmit cries for help. Other witnesses were traveling southbound along a divided highway, adjacent to the airport, in their car. They noticed the airplane flying erratically, at low altitude, as it paralleled their course on the west side of the highway. The airplane then crossed the roadway in front of their vehicle at low altitude, and circled back towards them before striking the ground on the east side of the roadway, scattering debris across all four lanes in a westerly direction. The witnesses' vehicle drove through and over wreckage as their vehicle was struck by flying debris. Examination of the wreckage and its components revealed no evidence of preimpact anomalies. The airplane's builder assisted the pilot/owner with a complete disassembly and annual inspection of the airplane about 1 year prior to the accident, with no mechanical, performance, or handling deficiencies noted with the speed brake stowed or deployed. The pilot/owner did not express any concerns to the builder about the speed brake, nor the handling characteristics of the airplane with the speed brake deployed.
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: private
- Ratings: single-engine land
- Flight time: 578 hours in all; 70 in this make and model
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: frt
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 1,547 hours
- Last inspection: condition inspection, June 27, 2007; 3 hours since
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Lycoming O-235 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: CPK Chesapeake VA at 10:16 pm
- Destination: CPK
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 05, 5,500 ft by 100 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 110° at 4 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 81°F (27°C), dew point 81°F (27°C)
- Altimeter: 30.07 inHg
- Observation at 10:19 pm from CPK, 1 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 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.
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.