NYC83LA007 · Globe SWIFT GC-1B SWIFT GC-1
Globe SWIFT GC-1B SWIFT GC-1 · Accident: loss of control in flight on approach
From Elmira Corning Regional Airport (ELM) to 6G3 · Palmyra, NY
Event
- NTSB case
- NYC83LA007
- 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
- 0 · 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
Globe SWIFT GC-1B SWIFT GC-1
- Aircraft type
- Globe SWIFT GC-1B
- 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
- N50BS
- Operator
- Roland J. Zavada · private individual
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Elmira Corning Regional Airport (ELM), Elmira, NYTo 6G3 · Palmyra, NY
- 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
- Approach · VFR pattern base
- 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
- Loss of control in flight
- 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
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Pilot in command › Airspeed, not maintained
- Pilot in command › Stall, inadvertent
Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of Elmira, NY, the place the record names. Not the accident site.
NTSB narrative
DURING TAKEOFF, THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE CANOPY SEPARATED FROM THE AIRCRAFT AS IT WAS CLIMBING THROUGH ABOUT 150 TO 200 FT AGL. THE PILOT NOTIFIED THE TOWER OF THE SITUATION AND CLEARANCE WAS OBTAINED TO LAND ON ANY RUNWAY. ACCORDING TO THE PILOT, HE TURNED CROSSWIND TOO SOON AND BEGAN A DOWNWIND TOO CLOSE-IN WHILE AVOIDING GLIDER OPERATIONS. SUBSEQUENTLY, HE BEGAN A TIGHT 180 DEGREE TURN FROM A LOW DOWNWIND TO FINAL APPROACH. THE PILOT REPORTED THAT DURING THE TURN, THE AIRCRAFT "BEGAN TO FALL OUT OF THE SKY." HE ADDED FULL POWER AND STATED THAT PARTIAL CONTROL WAS ACHIEVED OVER A TAXIWAY. HE ELECTED TO CHOP THE POWER AND LAND. THE AIRCRAFT LANDED HARD IN A 3 POINT ATTITUDE AND WAS DAMAGED. THE PILOT BELIEVED THAT THE FRONT CANOPY PIN WAS ENGAGED BEFORE TAKE- OFF (IT WAS VISUALLY CHECKED). HOWEVER, HE NOTED THAT THE REAR PIN WAS LOCATED OUTSIDE. HE RECOMMENDED A MORE PRUDENT CHECK OF THE CANOPY ATTACHMENT (FRONT AND REAR PINS). HE HAD INSTALLED A NEW WEATHER SEAL AT THE REAR HATCH.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record NYC83LA007
- Event ID
- 20020917X05078
- Case number
- NYC83LA007
- 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: de677be27f8e2bdb7f3d0225987cb3246011370fc8fa5eb96eb5938df98781c3; retrieved 2026-09-24T00:29:06.232Z.