20070901021279A

(-23)ON SEPTEMBER 1,2007 AT APPROXIMATELY 1754 EASTERN TIME (ET) A NON-REGISTERED HUMMEL AVIATION ULTRA CRUISER WAS SUBSTANTIALLY DAMAGED AFTER IMPACTING A TREE APPROXIMATELY 100 FEET SHORT OF AND 50 FEET TO THE RIGHT OF THE APPROACH END OF RUNWAY 29 AT BLUE KNOB AIRPORT (K7G4). THE PILOT, WHO HAD AN EXPIRED STUDENT PILOT CERTIFICATE AND AN EXPIRED MEDICAL CERTIFICATE, WAS FATALLY INJURED. VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS (VCM) PREVAILED FOR THE PERSONAL FLIGHT THAT HAD DEPARTED FROM K7G4. NO FLIGHT PLAN WAS FILED, AND THE FLIGHT WAS CONDUCTED UNDER 14 CFR PART 91. ACCORDING TO TWO WITNESSES THIS WAS ONLY THE SECOND TIME THE PILOT HAD FLOWN THE AIRCRAFT, WITH THE FIRST FLIGHT BEING MADE EARLIER THAT DAY. DURING THIS SECOND FLIGHT THE AIRCRAFT MANEUVERED AROUND THE FIELD THREE TIMES. SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF THE PILOT MANEUVERED AROUND THE PATTERN AND MADE AN APPROACH TO RUNWAY 11 AND THEN DID A LOW PASS ABOVE THE RUNWAY. SUBSEQUENTLY, CLIMBING IN ALITITUDE AND BACK INTO ANOTHER PATTERN AROUND THE FIELD, THE AIRCRAFT AGAIN MADE A LOW PASS OVER THE FIELD. ONCE AGAIN THE AIRCRAFT MANEUVERED AROUND THE PATTERN FOR ANOTHER LOW PASS OVER RUNWAY 11. ON THIS THIRD PASS OVER THE RUNWAY, A WITNESS STATED THE AIRCRAFT WAS VERY LOW TO THE RUNWAY AND THEN DOVE DOWN AND TO THE LEFT AT THE END OF THE DEPARTURE END OF RUNWAY 11. OTHER WITNESSES STATED THEY SAW THE AIRCRAFT IN A TURN PASS OVER THEM AT BETWEEN 150 TO 250 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND LEVEL(AGL) AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED AND DECLINING IN ALTITUDE AS THE AIRCRAFT APPROACHED THE FIELD JUST PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT. ANOTHER WITNESS REPORTED HE SAW THE AIRCRAFT APPROACHING THE APPROACH END OF RUNWAY 29 AT APPROXIMATELY A 30 DEGREE ANGLE. AN EXAMINATION OF THE WRECKAGE FIELD SHOWED THE LEFT WING SEVERED FROM THE FUSELAGE AND APPROXIMATELY 120 FEET FROM THE REMAINDER OF THE WRECKAGE. A TREE AT THE LOCATION OF N40.3959 W78.4469 HAD AN APPROXIMATE SIX INCH IN DIAMETER BRANCH BROKEN OFF FROM THE TREE. THE BROKEN BRANCH WAS FOUND WITH DAMAGE THAT WOULD BE EXPECTED FROM AN IMPACT WITH THE AIRCRAFT WING. AN EXAMINATION OF THE LEFT WING SHOWED A WITNESS MARK ON THE LEADING EDGE OF THE WING THAT MATCHED THE TREE BRANCH IN SIZE. THE WITNESS MARK ON THE WING TENDS TO INDICATE THE AIRCAFT WINGS WERE LEVEL AT THE TIME OF IMPACT. A GROUND SCAR WAS EXAMINED AND FOUND ON THE HEADING OF 298 DEGREES AND WAS APPROXIMATELY 84 FEET LONG. AT THE END OF THE GROUND SCAR WAS THE REMAINDER OF THE WRECKAGE, WHICH CAME TO REST AT N40.396 W78.4474. THE FOLLOWING ITEMS WERE FOUND SEPARATED AND WITHIN CLOSE PROXIMITY OF THE AIRFRAME: ENGINE, CARBURETOR, FUEL TANK, VERTICAL STABILIZER, AND INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE ENGINE WAS A HUMMEL ENGINE, 1037CC, 37 HP, TWO CYCLE ENGINE(1/2 VOLKSWAGON STYLE ENGINE) WHICH WAS FOUND TO HAVE THE AIRCRAFT OWNER'S LAST NAME ETCHED INTO THE BLOCK. ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ OF HUMMEL ENGINES STATED THE ENGINE WAS PURCHASED IN JUNE OF 2001. ATTACHED TO THE ENGINE WERE THE REMAINS OF A WOODEN PROPELLER, WHICH WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED BEYOND RECOGNITION. SMALL FRAGMENTS OF THE PROPELLER WERE FOUND AT THE BEGINNING OF AND ALONG THE GROUND SCAR. WITNESSES REPORTED THEY HEARD THE ENGINE RUNNING AND THERE WERE NO INDICATIONS OF THE ENGINE HAVING PROBLEMS PRODUCING POWER. THE FUEL TANK WAS APPROXIMATELY FIVE GALLONS IN SIZE AND WAS FOUND TO BE RUPTURED WITH NO FUEL REMAINING IN THE FUEL TANK. THERE WAS NO POST IMPACT FIRE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS ACCIDENT. THE THROTTLE WAS FOUND TO BE IN THE FULL OPEN POSITION. AN EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE'S CARBURETOR WAS CONDUCTED, AND IT WAS FOUND TO HAVE A SMALL AMOUNT OF CLEAN FUEL IN THE FLOAT BOWL. AN EXAMINATION OF THE INSTRUMENTS REVEALED THE ALTIMETER WAS SET AT 30.6, WHEREAS THE LOCAL WEATHER REPORTED THE BAROMETRIC PRESSURE TO BE 30.2 AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT. A CONTINUITY CHECK OF THE FLIGHT CONTROL WAS PERFORMED AND CONTINUITY WAS VERIFIED WITH THE RUDDER ATTACHMENT POINT, RIGHT AILERON, LEFT AILERON UP TO WHERE THE WING WAS SEVERED, AND THE ELEVATOR. THE LEFT AILERON AS ATTACHED TO THE LEFT WING WAS CHECKED AND THE RUDDER AS ATTACHED TO THE VERTICAL STABILIZER WERE BOTH FOUND TO HAVE FREE MOVEMENT OF THE CONTROL SURFACE. DOCUMENTATION FROM HUMMEL AVIATION, INDIDCATED THAT THE PILOT HAD PURCHASED PLANS FOR THE AIRCRAFT IN 2003. HUMMEL AVIATION INDICATES THE EMPTY WEIGHT OF THIS AIRCRAFT TO BE 254 POUNDS AS BUILT TO THEIR SPECIFICATION AND THIS IS WITHOUT THE INSTALLATION OF BRAKES, A CANOPY, AND SHOCK GEAR. THIS AIRCRAFT HAD A CANOPY AND BRAKES INSTALLED, WHICH WOULD HAVE TAKEN IT OVER THE ULTRA LIGHT CATEGORY WEIGHT LIMIT OF 254 POUNDS. THE AIRCRAFT HAD NO AIRCRAFT REGISTRATION OR AIRWORTHINESS CERTIFICATE. ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^, WHO IS THE PILOT'S WIFE, STATED HER HUSBAND HAD BEEN FLYING HIS OTHER AIRCRAFT, A N3 PUP, FOR APPROXIMATELY EIGHT TO NINE YEARS. THE N3 PUP IS A HIGH WING AIRCRAFT, WHEREAS THE ULTRA CRUISER WAS A LOW WING AIRCRAFT. ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ ALSO STATED THE PILOT ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ HAD COMPLETED THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE AIRCRAFT IN 2006. FURTHERMORE, SHE STATED HER HUSBAND HAD HEART SURGERY AND COULD NOT GET A MEDICAL CERTIFICATE FOR FLYING, THUS THE REASON HE WAS FLYING THE ULTRA LIGHT AIRCRAFT. THERE WERE NO AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE RECORDS AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW FOR THIS AIRCRAFT. THERE WAS, HOWEVER, A BINDER FILLED WITH INFORMATION ON THE HUMMEL AVIATION ULTRA CRUISER AND SPECIFICATIONS ON THE AIRCRAFT AND ENGINE. ADDITIONALLY, THERE WAS NO RECORD OF A WEIGHT AND BALANCE CALCULATION BEING PERFORMED ON THE AIRCRAFT, THOUGH THERE WAS DOCUMENTATION IN THE BINDER AS TO HOW TO WEIGH THE AIRCRAFT. THERE WAS NO PILOT FLIGHT LOG AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW.