- Date
- May 24, 1995, 13:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Woodsfield, OH
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N29BDBailey Quickie Q-2
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 19, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950524012959A
- Case key
- 38971
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The loss engine power for undetermined reason and the pilot's failure to maintain control which resulted in an inflight collision with terrain.
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 flight which became overdue was destined for monroe county airport (4G5). A search located the aircraft wreckage in a hayfield about 1 mile northeast of the approach end of runway 25 at 4G5. A witness reported that about the time of the accident she heard the sound of an airplane engine stop. She then saw the airplane, which was similar in appearance to the accident airplane, circle and descend down at a 45 degree angle. The engine then restarted. Examination of the engine revealed no discrepancies. The 1545 hour surface weather report for wheeling, west Virginia indicated the wind was at 220 degrees at 11 knots gusting to 22 knots. The pilot had a total of 2 hours of flight time during the last 90 days in this make and model.
Factual narrative
On May 24, 1995, about 1330 eastern daylight time, a Bailey Quickie Q-2, N29BD, an experimental, homebuilt airplane, collided with the terrain, in Woodsfield, Ohio. The pilot was fatally injured, and the airplane was destroyed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The personal flight was being conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
The pilot departed the Marshall County Airport, Moundsville, West Virginia, approximately 1315, for the 18 NM flight to Woodsfield. When the pilot did not arrive, the Sheriff's Department was notified, and a search was initiated. The wreckage was located on May 25, 1995, at approximately 0830 in a hayfield, about 1 mile northeast of the approach end of runway 25.
A witness outside his house near the crash site stated that he heard the airplane's "engine shut off" and his attention was drawn to the airplane. He saw the airplane circling before starting down at a "sharp angle...45 degrees nose down." The witness stated that the engine started again, and described it as "the same way it stopped, no engine labor or grinding."
The engine was removed from the airplane and examined by an FAA Airworthiness Inspector, on June 1, 1995. According to the Inspector's statement, "...other than impact damage on the push rods for the right front cylinder, the engine turned freely." The engine examination did not reveal any discrepancies.
The Wheeling, West Virginia 1545 weather was; 5,000 scattered, visibility 12 miles, temperature 84 degrees F, dew point 66 degrees F, wind 220 degrees, 11 knots, gust to 22, altimeter 30.02 inches Hg.
The pilot's personal log book indicated that he had a total of 69.7 flight hours, with 21.2 hours in this make and model airplane, and 2 flight hours in this make and model airplane in the last 90 days.
An autopsy was performed on the pilot, on May 26, 1995, at the Franklin County Coroner's Office, in Columbus, Ohio, by Dr. Keith Norton.
Toxicological tests were conducted at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, DC.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N29BD
- Reported as
- Bailey Quickie Q-2 (QUICKIE Q-)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- Q2BD
- Airframe hours
- 1,404
- Engine
- Revmaster 2100D, 64 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Walter R. Murray
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 11, 1994 · 35 hours before
- Departed
- 74D · Moundsville, WV
- Destination
- 4G5
- Airport
- 4G5 · Monroe County, runway 25, 3,806 × 75 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 39
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 70 total · 21 in this make and model · 46 as pilot in command · 67 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 11 knots, gusting 22
- Visibility
- 12 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- HLG, 30 nm away
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 5, 1995, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 587 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.