MIA02FA098

During the airplane's first flight after assembly, an eyewitness on the ground stated he observed it cross his field of vision, right to left, at a very low altitude and at very high rate of speed. The attitude of the airplane went progressively from 90 degrees of bank to wings level and nose down until it collided with the terrain in a flat attitude. He saw a perceptible nose rising, but it was too late to avoid impact with the desert floor. No discrepancies could be found with the airframe or engine, post crash.

History of flight

On May 22, 2002, about 1442 mountain standard time, a Grob G120A, N866AF, registered to Airline Training Center Arizona, Inc., operating as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 maintenance test flight, crashed while maneuvering in the vicinity of Mobile, Arizona. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft was destroyed, and the airline transport rated flight instructor, the sole occupant, sustained fatal injuries. The flight departed Phoenix-Goodyear Municipal Airport, Goodyear, Arizona, at 1404.

According to a statement by another training center instructor who was communicating on base radio about a landing gear indication problem with training aircraft N1569P during the time period 1420 to 1430, N866AF's pilot overheard and said he would lend assistance. After a quick descent from 7,000 feet msl, loosely joining on N1569P at 2,500 feet msl, and simultaneously stating his observations about landing gear and gear door positions on base radio frequency to base operations and to N1569P, N866AF detached at about 1430. Upon detaching, the pilot stated he was climbing back up to 7,000 feet msl, to resume his test flight.

According to an eyewitness on the ground, at about 1440, he observed the aircraft traveling east to west, north of his position and south of the Lufthansa training airport at Mobile, at an extremely high rate of speed and low to the ground. The left wing was straight down and the right wing was straight up. He next observed the nose angle toward the ground, the wings roll level with the horizon, and simultaneously, the nose began to angle upward as the aircraft impacted the ground. He stated he thought there were two trainers in the landing pattern for the Mobile training airport at the time.

Personnel information

The pilot held a Federal Aviation Administration, (FAA) airline transport pilot certificate for airplane multiengine land and a flight instructor certificate with ratings for airplane single engine, multiengine, and instrument airplane. His most recent FAA second-class medical certificate was issued on December 3, 2001, with the limitation, "holder shall wear corrective lenses while exercising the privileges of his FAA certificate". The pilot successfully completed a biennial flight review in December, 2000. The pilot was employed by Airline Training Center Arizona as an instructor pilot on June 18, 1990, and was furloughed on September 30, 1993. He was rehired on January 4, 1999, and upgraded to the Flight Standards department on February 17, 2001. The pilot's immediate supervisor stated that, "[the pilot] was known as a conscientious and thorough check pilot."

On the day of the accident, the pilot reported for duty at 0530, and his only flight that day was the accident flight. On the day prior to the accident, the pilot reported for duty at 0530 and flew two flights, a Grob instructional flight with one student for 2:05 hours and a Bonanza instructional flight with one student for 2:25 hours. Two days prior to the accident, the pilot reported for duty at 0830 and flew two instructional flights, a Bonanza with one student for 1:45 hours and a Grob flight with one student for 1:30 hours. Three days prior to the accident was a weekend day and the pilot had a day off. Nothing unusual was reported on any of the training flights prior to the accident flight.

According to the pilot's wife, a 72-hour history of the pilot's personal life indicated no stressful conditions that could have influenced pilot performance. Family member interactions appeared to be centered around construction of their horse ranch and barn with his father-in-law's help, a long range mutual plan that was finally becoming a reality, and planning for his niece's graduation with his two daughters.

Aircraft information

The German manufactured aircraft was the sixth Grob G-120A that had been delivered to the Airline Training Center Arizona, Inc. Upon its delivery to the training center by ship and overland container transport from the factory in Germany on March 29, 2002, while uncrating, it was discovered that the aircraft fuselage had shifted position on its shipping cradle, and was slightly damaged. The carbon fiber composite, (CFC) constructed airframe utilizes glass reinforced plastic, (GRP) for ailerons, flaps, rudder, and trim tabs. The top of the vertical stabilizer and the under wing trailing edge fillet area sustained scraping. Additionally, some lower fuselage drain tubes were bent, two propeller tips had dragged, (not bent), and the spinner was dented. After uncrating, the wings, rudder, and elevators were reinstalled, the fuselage scrapes were repaired, the drain tubes were replaced, the engine and propeller were inspected and their respective manufacturers were consulted for remedial disposition, the spinner was replaced, and some unrelated, minor post delivery modifications were accomplished. The work was accomplished and signed off by Grob Systems, the U.S. distributor, of Bluffton, Ohio, on April 29, 2002. A copy of the maintenance records and repairs accomplished on N866AF are an attachment to this report. Total time on the aircraft at the time was 5:32 flight hours, which represented 4 to 5 production test flights in Germany prior to partial disassembly, containerization, and shipment to the U.S. Following reassembly and system ground checks, the FAA certified the aircraft's airworthiness on May 22, 2002, shortly before the accident.

The accident occurred as the aircraft was being test flown for the first time since its reassembly. The first five G-120A's had been test flown by a Grob production test pilot who traveled to Phoenix from the factory in Germany. That pilot left Phoenix and returned to Germany on March 30, 2001. According to the Grob mechanic responsible for N866AF's reassembly, 21 gallons of 100 LL aviation fuel were pumped into each wing fuel tank for fuel tank quantity calibration purposes on April 29, 2002. The fuel had undergone contamination testing the day of the fuelling. The aircraft had not been fueled since the calibration fuel load, and following two short engine runs, it was estimated by the mechanic and operations personnel that about 19 gallons per wing tank remained for the test flight. A report of the daily fuel sump check, as well as the quantity pumped into N866AF is an attachment to this report.

The aircraft is equipped with two Fischer-manufactured energy absorbing, "safety shell" pilot 's seats. Shock absorbers in the seat structure collapse progressively under high loading to protect the pilot. The seats are equipped with Schroth-manufactured 5-point pilot safety restraint harnesses.

The aircraft is equipped with a large, rearward sliding canopy using two lever-type operating handles mounted on a longitudinally oriented center bow, one an interior handle, and the other, an external handle. The interior handle's normal range of motion is from fully forward, (closed and fully locked position) to 90 degrees downward, (open position), but for emergency egress, the handle can be pulled further rearward for 170 degrees of aft travel, after first pulling a red safety locking handle. This action would jettison the canopy by releasing the attachment points on the guide rails. The canopy is not powered and must be manually moved closed or open. The red handle extends about 2.5 inches into the free space of the cockpit from its overhead mounted location.

Meteorological information

Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The Phoenix METAR for 1505 local time was; winds from 260 degrees at 3 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, cloud ceiling was broken at 25,000 feet msl, barometric pressure was 29.84 inHg, temperature was 81 degrees F, with a dew point temperature of 18 degrees F. The computed density altitude was 3,054 feet and the pressure altitude was 1,335 feet.

Wreckage and impact informa