20040808027859A

(-23) This inspector received notification of an aircraft accident at Franklin Wilkins Airport, Lexington, Tennessee, involving a non registered free bird ultra light on August 8, 2004, at 1017 central daylight time. The commercial pilot was fatally injured. According to witness the pilot departed the airport on a personal flight. No flight plan was filed nor was a weather briefing obtained. The non registered airplane departed and he appeared to initially have control problems with the airplane. The pilot stayed in the pattern and came back around to runway 15 for landing. A decreas in engine power was heard and the airplane was observed to pitch nose up at about 125 feet. The left wing dropped and the nose pitched down and the airplane impacted the ground. Family members at the scene provided this investigator with a copy of the bill of sale stating the deceased pilot purchased the non registered airplane March 21, 2004. The family stated there were no log books for the non registered airplane. They further stated the pilot log book was at home and they would make it available. Examination of the crash scene revealed the airplane collided with the ground in a left wing low attitude. The left wing leading edge sustained accordion crushing and was pushed aft. The right wing sustained minor damage. The engine assembly and propeller remained attached. Examination of the airframe, engine assembly and flight controls revealed no evidence of any precrash anomalies. The wreckage was released to the family. No autopsy was performed nor was toxicology samples taken by the medical examiner, henderson county, Lexington, Tennessee. The cause of death was massive blunt force trauma due to an airplane accident. privacy data omitted ^ Stated he is the son of the deceased pilot killed in the non-registered free bird on August 8, 2004, in the vicinity of Franklin Wilkins Airport, Lexington, Tennessee. He stated his father bought the airplane on March 21, 2004, and it had not been registered with the FAA. No log books came with the airplane. His father owns a farm and had built a runway to fly the airplane. The runway at the farm was only 720 feet long. His father did not havy any flight time in the free bird and did not know the flight characteristics of the airplane. He called the manufacturer and they informed him that the airplane would become airborne at 50 mph and would take off with a ground run of 200 feet. They also informed him that the stall speed was 42 mph. privacy data omitted ^ Stated he did not know where his father's pilot log book was and did not know the date of his last flight review. privacy data omitted ^ Stated his father wanted to take the airplane over the Franklin Wilkins Airport to conduct a test flight. His intentions were to ground taxi the airplane get it airborne and land until he felt comfortable with the airplane. They removed the wings and transported the airplane to the airport at about 0900 CDT on the day of the accident. No flight plan was filed with the FAA, nor was a weather briefing obtained. His father had told him if the airplane stalled while flying that he would push the nose over to gain airspeed. His father conducted a preflight inspection of the airplane and no anomalies were noted. He departed from the grass located adjacent to the runway at 1012 CDT. It surprised him that his father continued the takeoff after he had previously told him that he would rotate and become airborne and set the airplane back on the ground. The airplane became airborne, the nose was observed to porpoise up and down until the speed of the airplane increased and stabilized and the airplane reached about 60 to 70 feet in a climb. His father remained in left closed traffic for runway 15 and climbed between 100 to 250 feet. He observed the airplane turn on final approach and heard a decrease in engine power. The airspeed decreased. He then observed the nose of the airplane pitch down, up, down, and thought the engine had stopped. The nose of the airplane pitched up again about 45-degrees and the left wing dropped. He knew the airplane had stalled and watched it descend and collide with the ground. Read the statement back to privacy data omitted ^ and he agreed with the statement. (-23 supplement) on August 8, 2004, at 1017 central daylight time, an unregistered free bird experimental airplane, operating as a title 14 CFR part 91 personal flight, collided with the ground while on final approach to Franklin Wilkins Airport, Lexington, Tennessee. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The unregistered airplane was destroyed. The commercial pilot was fatally injured. The flight originated from Lexington, Tennessee, on August 8, 2004, at an undetermined time. Witness es located at the Franklin Wilkins Airport stated they observed the airplane on final approach to runway 15. A decrease in engine power was heard. The nose of the airplane was observed to pitch down, up and back down. The left wing dropped, and the airplane collided with the ground.