- Date
- November 23, 2002, 09:50 local (14:50 UTC)
- Place
- Hilton Head, SC
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N14UJHickman Murphy Rebel
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 2, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Columbia FSDO
- FAA report
- 20021123036169A
- Case key
- 56118
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
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Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during an aborted landing that resulted in the in-flight collision with a ditch.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot and the previous owner were completing a required five-hour block of flight time in the Murphy Rebel when the accident occurred. The pilot further stated that following the landing on the first third of the 4300-foot-long runway, the airplane veered off the left side of the runway. The pilot applied full power in an effort to correct the left drift and to establish a climb. The airplane plunged into a nearby canal as the pilot attempted to establish a climb. The pilot did not report a mechanical problem with the airplane. The pilot had purchased the airplane the day before the accident and had flown three hours total time in the Murphy Rebel.
Factual narrative
On November 23, 2002, at 0950 eastern standard time, a Hickman, Murphy Rebel experimental airplane, N14UJ, registered to and operated by a private owner, collided with a ditch on the departure end of runway 03 during a landing at the Hilton Head Airport, in Hilton Head, South Carolina. The personal flight operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The airplane sustained substantial damage, and the commercial pilot and his passenger were not injured. The flight departed Hilton Head, South Carolina, at 0900, on November 23, 2002.
According to the pilot, he and the previous owner were completing a required five-hour block of flight time in the Murphy Rebel when the accident occurred. The pilot further stated that following the landing on first third of the 4300-foot long runway, the airplane veered off the left side of the runway into the grass. The pilot applied full power in an effort to correct the left drift and to establish a climb. The airplane plunged into a nearby canal as the pilot attempted to establish a climb.
The pilot did not report a mechanical problem with the airplane. The pilot had purchased the airplane the day before the accident and had flown three hours total time in the Murphy Rebel. The pilot reported that the winds were out of the northwest at about 5 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N14UJ
- Reported as
- Hickman Murphy Rebel
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 146R
- Airframe hours
- 300
- Engine
- Subaru EL22, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Bruce Hann
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 1, 2002 · 10 hours before
- Departed
- HXD · Hilton Head, SC
- Airport
- HXD · Hilton Head, runway 03, 4,300 × 75 ft, asphalt
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 48
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- July 11, 2001
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 460 total · 2 in this make and model · 261 as pilot in command · 4 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 330° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 39 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.21 inHg
- Observed at
- NBC
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.