MURRAY BLAIR L FREE BIRD CLASSIC — Kylertown, PA

What happened

The private pilot/owner had recently completed the experimental, amateur-built airplane and was conducting the first test flight. The pilot had completed two circuits around his private airstrip before witnesses saw the airplane approaching to land. While on final approach about 50-100 ft above the ground, the airplane suddenly descended and impacted terrain. Of the three witnesses who saw the accident, two stated that the airplane nosed over to ground contact, and one stated that the left wing dropped before the airplane nosed over. Two other individuals heard the engine "rev up" before impact but did not observe the accident. The airplane impacted terrain short of the runway in a nearly vertical, nose-down attitude and sustained extensive damage to the engine, fuselage, wings, and empennage. The tail of the airplane was twisted and bent forward over the fuselage, and there did not appear to be any forward momentum of the airplane at impact, consistent with an aerodynamic stall/spin. The witness accounts of the airplane's nose or wing dropping were also consistent with entry into a stall/spin. Given that the accident flight was the pilot's first flight in the airplane, he was likely unfamiliar with its flight characteristics, and, during the approach for landing, the pilot allowed the airspeed to decay. The airplane subsequently exceeded its critical angle of attack and entered an aerodynamic stall/spin.

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