20170114000349A

Pilot was performing touch and go landings on runway 17 at the Buckeye Municipal Airport (bxk) in Buckeye, AZ, when the aircraft, N6366B, veered to the left, leaving the runway, crossing taxiway d, coming to a stop inverted. There were no eye witnesses to the accident, however, the airport manager, ^john mcmahon,^ did state he heard ^Mr. Smith^ take off and then shortly after the noise from the crash, which alerted him to go outside to investigate what happened. The aircraft was substantially damaged and ^Mr. Smith^ was seriously injured, sustaining lacerations and a fracture of the C2 vertebrae. There were no other persons onboard at the time of the accident.

^Mr. Mcmahon^ provided photographs and an overview of the airport depicting the path the aircraft took along with distance measurements. According to this information the runway has a skid mark from the left main tire from approximately 1400 feet from the beginning of runway 17 for a distance of 487 feet exiting the runway then all three tire marks for another 295 feet to the edge of taxiway d. the tire marks end shortly from the edge of taxiway d indicating that the aircraft became airborne. Taxiway d runs at a 45 degree angle from runway 17/35 and is 50 feet wide. The next ground marks are 33 feet from the opposite edge of taxiway d. the aircraft skid for another 74 feet before coming to rest inverted.

^Mr. Mcmahon^ reported that the weather conditions at the time were light and variable winds with occasional light drizzle and overcast skies. Visibility was 10+ miles. There is no indication that weather conditions attributed to this accident.

Airworthiness:

N6366B has a current registration and a standard a/w certificate issued in 1978. The last annual inspection was signed off on 8/9/2016 with atotal time of 5082.5 hours, 13.9 hours prior to the accident. All ad's pertaining to this aircraft were accomplished. The transponder and altimeter checks were accomplished on 8/4/2016 i/a/w 14CFR part 43, appendix e and f.

Aircraft condition:

Nose- spinner has impact damage. Engine lower cowling and oil cooler doors have impact damage

Fuselage- aft portion of the fuselage sustained buckling damage forward of the leading edge of the vertical and horizontal stabilizers. The forward firewall also exhibited buckling.

Wings- the left wing sustained damage to the wingtip and outboard leading edge back to the spar. Both wings exhibited buckling indicating possible bent wing spars.

Empennage-vertical stabilizer and rudder have damage from where they impacted the ground when the aircraft flipped over.

Landing gear-the left and right main landing gear do not appear to be damaged and both tires were inflated. The left main tire had an area of damage consistent with skidding on a damp surface. Both wheel assemblies were rotated and exhibited normal light drag. Both brake rotors had normal wear and both brake pad sets had ample lining material. Both main brakes were tested by rotating each wheel assembly by hand with actuation of the rudder toe pedals and each operated normally. The nose gear was broken from its attach points. The nose wheel halves were broken. When the rudder pedals were moved back and forth the steering quadrant operated normally indicating steering continuity.

Powerplant- there is no apparent damage to the powerplant. Valve train continuity was determined to be good using the thumb compression method. Top spark plugs from all six cylinders exhibited normal grey deposits on the electrodes and normal wear. Both magnetos had impulse coupling engagement.

Propeller- all three propeller blades exhibited damage to the leading edge at their tips consistent with ground impact at low power. All blades were bent aft.

Human factors- according to his wife, he had back surgery performed in August, 2016, and had recently told her he felt that one leg was stronger than the other.