20201208021849A

WITNESS #1 STATEMENT: ON DECEMBER 8, 2020 ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ (PILOT) HAD HIS DAD?S AIRPLANE N69HF RIGHT OUTSIDE HIS HANGAR. WITNESS #1, SAW ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ WORKING AND WASHING THE AIRPLANE SINCE AROUND 10:00AM. N69HF WAS AT THE WEST END OF THE TAXI WAY BETWEEN THE TWO ROWS OF NORTH HANGARS AT A WEST HEADING. WITNESS #1, WAS AT HIS HANGAR ON THE SAME TAXI WAY APPROXIMATELY 400 FEET FROM ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ HANGAR, EAST OF THE AIRPLANE, OR BEHIND THE AIRPLANE. AT APPROXIMATELY 2:00 PM -2:15 PM WITNESS #1, HEARD AN AIRPLANE START AND GO TO A HIGH POWER SETTING. WITNESS #1, LOOKED OVER AND SAW N69HF ACCELERATING AT A WEST HEADING. IT CROSSED BOTH TAXI WAY B AND RUNWAY 18-36. THE AIRCRAFT WAS BOUNCING, PITCHING AND YAWING AS IT ACCELERATED. IT APPEARED VERY ERRATIC AND WAS VERY CLOSE TO GROUND LOOPING OR CARTWHEELING. WITNESS #1, RAN IN THAT DIRECTION TO ASSIST BECAUSE HE THOUGHT THERE WAS GOING TO BE AN ACCIDENT. THE RV TURNED NORTH WEST AND BECAME AIRBORNE. IT LEVELED OFF AND BECAME STABILIZED AT ABOUT 50 FEET AGL AND FLEW OVER THE WATER NORTH OF THE AIRPORT. WHEN OVER THE WATER, IT TURNED TO A SOUTH WEST HEADING FOLLOWING THE COAST, MAINTAINING APPROXIMATELY THE SAME ALTITUDE UNTIL HE LOST SIGHT OF IT. WITNESS #1, RAN BACK TO HIS HANGAR TO GET HIS PHONE AND CALL THE TOWER. THE CONTROLLER HE SPOKE WITH SAID HE SAW THE AIRPLANE OVER THE WATER BUT DID NOT KNOW IT DEPARTED FROM KGLS. HE ASKED IF HE COULD TRACK HIM VISUALLY IN CASE HE NEEDED ASSISTANCE BUT HE SAID THEY HAD LOST SIGHT OF THE AIRPLANE AS WELL.

WITNESS #2 STATEMENT: AT APPROXIMATELY 2:15PM AFTER LANDING ON RW18 AT KGLS, WITNESS #2, WAS TRAVELING NORTH ON THE MAIN TAXIWAY TOWARDS THE ?NORTH HANGARS.? AS WITNESS #2, APPROACHED THE HANGARS, N69HF APPEARED FROM THE MIDDLE HANGAR ROW, TRAVELING AT AN UNUSUALLY HIGH RATE OF SPEED. FROM WITNESS #2 PERSPECTIVE, IT APPEARED THE PILOT ATTEMPTED TO ROTATE BEFORE REACHING THE GRASS BETWEEN THE TAXIWAY AND RUNWAY 18/36. THE AIRPLANE WAS NOT READY TO FLY, SO THERE WERE SEVERAL BOUNCES BEFORE BECOMING AIRBORNE. WITNESS #2, BELIEVED IT WAS FLYING BEFORE REACHING RW18/36. AFTER LIFTOFF, THE AIRPLANE REMAINED VERY CLOSE TO THE GROUND, EXHIBITING ERRATIC FLIGHT CHARACTERISTICS, BUT SEEMED TO STABILIZE BEFORE GOING OUT OF SIGHT. THE AIRPLANE APPEARED TO TRACK ALONG THE SHORELINE AND DISAPPEARED FROM HIS SIGHT BEHIND THE HOUSES.

THE AIRPLANE FLEW FOR A PERIOD OF ABOUT AN HOUR AND 20 MINUTES AT APPROXIMATELY 80 TO 150 FEET AGL. SEVERAL VIDEOS WERE PROVIDED TO SHOW ALTITUDE, CONTROLLABILITY AND POWER PERFORMANCE ALL SEEM TO BE OPERATING AS NORMAL PRIOR TO IMPACT. THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE RAILROAD TRACK AND FLIPPING OVER TO THE NORTH SIDE OF THE RAILROAD TRACK RESTING UPSIDE DOWN ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

WITNESS #3 STATEMENT: AT AROUND 15:35 TO 15:40 WITNESS #3 HEARD THE LOUD NOISE OF THE AIRPLANE ENGINE, AND THEN THE LOUD SOUND OF THE IMPACT. THERE WAS A SHUDDER IN THE HOUSE THAT FELT LIKE AN EARTHQUAKE. SHE IMMEDIATELY WENT OUTSIDE HER HOME AND SAW THE AIRPLANE AND THE BIG PUFF OF SMOKE OR DUST. SHE DID NOT SEE A FIRE. SHE WAS THE FIRST PERSON TO THE SCENE. SHE CHECKED FOR STATUS OF PILOT BUT DETERMINED THAT THE PILOT WAS DECEASED, THEN SHE MADE THE CALL TO 911.

THERE WAS NO POST CRASH FIRE; THE INITIAL IMPACT TOOK OUT THE PROPELLER SHOWING SIGNS OF POWER WHEN IT STRUCK THE ROCK BERM AT THE SIDE OF THE RAILROAD TRACK. THE AIRPLANE WAS DESTROYED. INSTRUMENTS WERE STAMPED AT TIME OF IMPACT SHOWING 2100 RPM AND MANIFOLD PRESSURE OF 13 INCHES OF MERCURY, SIGNS OF ENGINE OPERATING AT TIME OF IMPACT. VIDEO PRIOR TO CRASH SHOWED THE ENGINE RUNNING FINE. THE FUEL TANKS WERE BREACHED AT IMPACT, SO NO FUEL SAMPLE WAS TAKEN. ELT WAS ON, HOWEVER WHEN THE AIRPLANE FLIPPED OVER IT TOOK OUT THE ELT ANTENNA. THE ELT DISTRESS SIGNAL COULD NOT BE HEARD BY LOCAL FLIGHTS. ACFT WAS NOT EQUIPPED WITH ADS-B. PILOT DID NOT HAVE A HEADSET ON, IT WAS NOT FOUND ANYWHERE IN THE AIRCRAFT OR CRASH SITE.