ZIMMERMAN BREEZY — Oshkosh, WI

What happened

The accident pilot flew a passenger on a 10-minute flight during the Experimental Aircraft Association Airventure Oshkosh 2014. During landing, the pilot lost airplane control and subsequently struck a parked ground vehicle. A pilot in another airplane that had been cleared to land reported that he saw two airplanes in front of his airplane: a light-colored high-wing airplane that was turning from the right base to the final leg of the traffic pattern, and a high-wing airplane, which was the accident airplane, directly in front of him on the right downwind leg. The pilot of the trailing airplane stated that the air traffic controller was providing instructions to the pilots of the other two airplanes simultaneously and that it appeared that the controller was concerned about the spacing between the two airplanes ahead of him and the fact that his airplane was a faster airplane than the other two airplanes. The pilot heard the controller tell the accident airplane pilot while he was on short final to "pick it up a bit" and inform hit that a faster airplane was behind him. The accident airplane touched down and then become airborne again, and the controller subsequently stated to the accident pilot that "he could set it down." The airplane landed again and veered left on the runway. The pilot appeared to correct the airplane's ground track back on the centerline for a short time before the airplane veered right off the runway and onto the grass. The airplane then became airborne again and was in a nose-high, right-wing-low attitude; the pilot was likely attempting to clear a row of vehicles parked in the grass outside of the safety area. However, the airplane's tail hit one of the vehicles, and a small ground fire ensued. The pilot of the trailing airplane did not see any debris on the runway nor anything fall off the accident airplane before it hit the parked vehicle, and no debris or separated parts were found on the runway. An examination of the wreckage did not reveal any preimpact anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

The tower communications were consistent with the air traffic controller simultaneously coordinating the landing of three airplanes on the same runway. Photographs revealed that, after the accident airplane landed behind the first airplane, the separation between the two airplanes decreased before the accident airplane exited the runway. It is likely that after the accident pilot landed the airplane, he observed that the separation between his airplane and the airplane ahead of him was decreasing, which led to his loss of airplane control.

An editorial "what led to it / how to avoid it" analysis for this accident is generated separately and will appear here.