RANS S17 — Lowell, MI

What happened

The private pilot had just purchased the unregistered amateur-built experimental airplane and was conducting a local personal flight around an airport. Witnesses, one of whom was the airplane's previous owner, reported observing the pilot "erratically" taxiing the airplane up and down the runway. After watching the pilot practicing on the runway, including a takeoff and landing, the previous owner expressed concern to the pilot about his handling of the airplane and offered to reverse the airplane sale; however, the new owner replied that he felt confident in his ability to master the new airplane based on "hundreds of hours" in a weight-shift trike and his experience in a tailwheel-equipped aircraft.

The witnesses reported that the pilot subsequently took off and then flew the airplane for 5 minutes around the airfield. During landing, the airplane appeared to stall about 3 ft above the ground, bounce, ground loop, exit the runway, and then come to rest. A witness and the previous owner then inspected the airplane and talked to the new owner. The new owner expressed his intention to resume practice. He then taxied down the runway, at one point exiting it to complete a 180-degree turnaround. During the subsequent takeoff, the airplane turned abruptly right about 45 degrees. The airplane lifted off at the runway edge, and it continued to turn to a heading almost perpendicular to the runway. As the airplane began to climb, it rolled right with a nose-high pitch attitude. The airplane passed behind trees out of the witnesses' view. About 4 seconds later, the witnesses heard a loud crash. The previous owner reported that he could hear the engine under full power until the airplane impacted terrain. A cell phone video of the accident flight was consistent with the witnesses' statements. A postaccident examination of the wreckage did not reveal any preimpact anomalies.

Toxicology testing identified drugs in the pilot's blood and urine consistent with the treatment of anxiety, depression, insomnia, and a cold or upper respiratory infection. However, depression does not generally cause the inappropriate overconfidence exhibited by the pilot regarding his ability to fly an airplane in which he had limited experience and in which the flight characteristics were quite different from the weight-control-trike that he did have experience flying. Further, the psychoactive and sedating effects of the combination of the medications did not likely directly lead to the pilot's observed behavior. Thus, there is no evidence that the pilot's medical and psychiatric conditions or the medications he was using to treat them contributed to his decision to continue flight in the airplane in which he had little skill or experience.

Given the witnesses' statements, it is likely that the pilot's overconfidence led him to continue flying the recently purchased airplane without acquiring additional training after nearly stalling it during a previous landing. The pilot's lack of training also likely led to his erratic handling of the airplane and his subsequent 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.