MIA01LA181

A witness stated he saw the accident and described the takeoff as "normal." He saw the airplane turn cross wind, continue to climb and turn down wind. He stated the airplane then "...appeared to slow rapidly at around 300 to 400 feet...made a couple of abrupt moves from side to side then turned away from the airport...nosed over and impacted the ground." The post crash fire destroyed about 60 percent of the airplane. An engine teardown revealed no discrepancies.

On July 11, 2001, about 1630 eastern daylight time, a Floback Lancair 4 homebuilt airplane, N720BF, registered to Missionair Inc., operating as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, impacted with the ground and was consumed by fire shortly after takeoff from the Kissimmee Municipal Airport, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. No flight plan was filed. The airplane was destroyed. The airline transport rated-pilot was fatally injured. The flight was originating when the accident occurred.

The director of maintenance (DM) for the owner of the airplane witnessed the accident and stated that before the flight the pilot hd intended to take a "routine flight around the pattern." When the pilot tried to start the airplane the pilot felt that the battery was too low, so he charged it for "a couple of hours." After charging the battery the pilot started the airplane "a couple of times and performed ground run-ups," After shutting the engine down, he re-installed the top engine cowling. He again re-started the engine and "performed ground run-ups." The DM then watched the airplane take off from runway 24, to "remain in the pattern." The DM described the takeoff as "normal." He stated that "gear up [was] during climb-out." He saw the airplane turn cross wind, continue to climb and turn down wind. The airplane then "...appeared to slow rapidly at around 300 to 400 feet approximately...aircraft made a couple of abrupt moves from side to side then turned away from the airport...nosed over and impacted the ground."

According to the FAA, the airplane had traveled about 3 miles south of the airport, when witnesses reported that they saw it oscillate, and then go into an attitude with the wings perpendicular to the ground. The airplane disappeared behind trees, and then was heard exploding. The postcrash fire destroyed about 60 percent of the airplane. The right wing was destroyed and the left wing did not show any fire damage. The engine displayed very little fire damage. Examination of fuel flow divider revealed that it was dry. The fuel selector valve was removed and found in the "LEFT" position. A teardown of the valve revealed the seals were melted due to the fire. No fuel was noted in the valve. An engine teardown revealed no discrepancies except for fiberglass blocking about 30 percent of the intake manifold.

Medical and pathological information

Dr. Sara H. Irrgang performed an autopsies on the pilot, at the Medical Examiners Office, Orlando, Florida, on July 12, 2001. According to the autopsy report the cause of death was "crush injuries of head, torso and extremities."

Toxicological tests were conducted at the Federal Aviation Administration, Research Laboratory, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and revealed, "No ethanol detected in Blood...no drugs detected in Blood."