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FTW92LA054 · Alvin D. Campbell KR-2

4 Jan 1992 · San Marcos, TX, United States

Alvin D. Campbell KR-2 · Accident: airframe, component or system failure while maneuvering

From 3R5 · New Braunfels, TX to an unrecorded destination

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Event

NTSB case
FTW92LA054
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
2 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

Alvin D. Campbell KR-2

Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N651AC
Operator
Alvin D. Campbell · private individual
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From 3R5 · New Braunfels, TXTo not recorded
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Maneuvering
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Airframe, component or system failure
Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
Stall/spin
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Destroyed

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › Maintenance, modification, performed
  • Window, canopy › Separation

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

THE PILOT/BUILDER OF THE HOMEBUILT AIRCRAFT WAS ON A LOCAL FLIGHT TO DEMONSTRATE THE AIRCRAFT FLIGHT CHARACTERISTICS TO A PROSPECTIVE BUILDER. WHILE MANEUVERING, THE ONE PIECE PLEXIGLASS CANOPY SEPARATED FROM THE AIRFRAME DUE TO FAILURE OF THE HINGE SYSTEM, RESULTING IN AN INFLIGHT LOSS OF CONTROL. THE PILOT HAD MODIFIED THE CANOPY HINGE SYSTEM FROM THE STANDARD TWO HINGE SYSTEM, TO A FULL LENGTH PIANO WIRE HINGE SYSTEM. THE LOSS OF THE CANOPY IN SUCH A SHORT COUPLED FUSELAGE DISTURBED THE AIRFLOW TO THE POINT OF BLANKETING THE ELEVATORS.

Probable cause

THE MODIFICATION OF THE CANOPY HINGE SYSTEM WHICH RESULTED IN THE LOSS OF AIRCRAFT CONTROL DUE TO AN INFLIGHT CANOPY SEPARATION.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record FTW92LA054
Event ID
20001211X13987
Case number
FTW92LA054
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 3e8be72b9fba8a199eb7ed62bec520bb491312ae81a78b4eb8c647cdf3a06ab0; retrieved 2026-09-21T01:25:19.996Z.