SEA98FA040

History of flight

On February 26, 1998, approximately 0750 Pacific standard time, an experimental Freije Lancair IV, N109GF, impacted a personal residence about three miles southeast of Garwood, Idaho. The commercial pilot and his passenger, who possessed a private pilot's license, received fatal injuries. The aircraft, which was built, owned, and operated by the commercial pilot, was destroyed. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal pleasure flight, which departed Coeur D' Alene Air Terminal about five minutes prior to the crash, had been on an IFR departure in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). His IFR flight plan was from Coeur D'Alene to Billings, Montana. There was no report of an ELT transmission.

According to friends and family members, the pilot was planning to fly to Billings on the morning of the accident, in order to attend a pilots' convention. He contacted Seattle Automated Flight Service Station at 2142 Pacific standard time the night before the flight, and received a briefing for an intended IFR flight to Billings. During that briefing, he indicated he would be departing about 0600 the next day. At 0608 the next morning, he again contacted Seattle Flight Service and asked for a briefing for an IFR flight to Billings, with a stop en route at Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. After receiving the briefing, the pilot filed an IFR flight plan from Felts Field, Spokane, Washington, to Coeur D'Alene, and a second IFR flight plan from Coeur D'Alene to Billings. At that time, he estimated he would be departing Coeur D'Alene about 0730. The time he departed Felts Field and flew VFR to Coeur D'Alene was not determined, but he reportedly arrived in Coeur D'Alene around 0715. After landing, he added 56.05 gallons of 100LL aviation fuel to the aircraft fuel system.

At 0744, while still on the ground at Coeur D'Alene, the pilot contacted Spokane Approach and advised them that he was ready to depart Coeur D'Alene "...IFR to Billings." Spokane Approach then cleared the pilot to Billings Airport "as filed" and instructed him to maintain 11,000 feet after departure, to contact Departure on frequency 132.1, and to squawk code 3511. The pilot correctly read back the clearance, and then Approach asked him how soon he would be ready and what runway he would be using. The pilot responded that he was "...ready to go now" and that he would be using runway 01. Soon thereafter the aircraft was seen taking off on runway 01 and climbing into the overcast. The next apparent transmission from the pilot was two minutes and 40 seconds later, but its content was unintelligible. Approach responded to the transmission by advising the pilot that the transmission was "...breaking up and hard to read." The pilot of the accident aircraft immediately responded with his call sign, and was advised by approach that the transmission was a little better and to verify his altitude. His response to that request was to transmit "I'm not sure, we're in a turn right now, and uh." The controller then advised the pilot that approach had radar contact with the aircraft "... three north of Coeur D'Alene Airport...," and to maintain one one thousand. About six seconds after the controller's transmission, there was another unintelligible transmission from an aircraft that could not be positively identified. There was no further radio contact with the accident aircraft, and coded radar contact was lost approximately 45 seconds after it had first been established.

Approximately the same time as radio and radar contact with the aircraft was lost, individuals in the vicinity of Alpine Lake, located about three and one-half miles north-northeast of Coeur D'Alene Airport, became aware of an aircraft maneuvering in the low clouds overhead. Of the seven local residents interviewed, three were outside their homes at the time the aircraft was first heard in the area. Two of these witnesses estimated they heard the aircraft maneuvering around the area for about five minutes before the crash, and the other felt that he had been aware of the aircraft for about three minutes. All three said that the aircraft's engine seemed to be running smoothly, without any missing or sputtering, as the aircraft continued to fly around the area. One thought the engine may have sputtered during the last two to three seconds prior to impact, but the other two said that it ran strong and smooth until it hit the house. Four other individuals, all of whom were inside homes near the point of impact, and who said they heard the aircraft less than five seconds before it hit, reported that the engine was running smoothly, but at a very high power setting. Two of the outdoor witnesses said that the pilot seemed to be making occasional changes in the power setting during the period they listened to him maneuver, but the other was of the opinion that the tonal changes he heard were caused by the normal effect created when the aircraft flew in different directions. All three outside witnesses said they saw the aircraft come out of the clouds in a steep angle of descent. Two said that the aircraft was near 90 degrees of bank, and the third said that visibility through the fog and heavy snow made it impossible to distinguish the wings from the fuselage or to tell what the aircraft's attitude might have been. All three of these witnesses said that the aircraft impacted the house near the northwest shore of Alpine Lake within two to three seconds after it came out of the clouds.

Individuals in the nearby houses reported hearing or feeling the impact, and all said there was no immediate explosion. According to local authorities, the aircraft severed a natural gas line as it passed through the structure of the house, and as a result, about ten to fifteen seconds after the impact, all but a portion of one wall of the house was destroyed by a powerful explosion. The aircraft wreckage and the remains of the house continued to burn for approximately three hours after the impact.

Meteorological information

During the briefing the pilot received on the morning of the flight, he was advised that in the area through which he planned to fly, there were Airmets for IFR conditions, icing, and mountain obscuration. The briefer advised him that the icing Airmet called for "... occasional moderate rime or mixed, from the surface on up through one six thousand..." He was also advised that at the time of the briefing, the automated weather from Coeur D'Alene indicated a calm wind, a temperature/dewpoint spread of one degree, and a 900 foot broken ceiling. In addition, the briefer told the pilot that, although the Coeur D'Alene forecast was for 2,000 overcast and six miles visibility, temporary conditions could drop to four miles visibility, with light snow and mist/fog and an 800 foot ceiling. Near the end of the briefing the pilot questioned the briefer about whether it would be possible to get to Coeur D'Alene VFR. The briefer responded that "... it doesn't appear so..." because the ceiling at Coeur D'Alene was still at 900, and the visibility had dropped to five miles. He also advised the pilot that the ceiling at Spokane at that time was down to 600 feet.

The Coeur D'Alene automated surface observation (METAR) taken at 0714, which was approximately the same time as the pilot's VFR arrival, indicated calm winds, a visibility of four miles, a 600 foot overcast, and a two degree temperature/dewpoint spread. The METAR taken at 0734, about ten minutes prior to the aircraft's departure, reported calm winds, one and one-half mile visibility, a 600 foot overcast, and a one degree temperature dewpoint spread. The METAR data for 0754, about 10 minutes after the departure, indicated calm winds, one and one-quarter mile visibility, 600 feet overcast, and a one degree spread between temperature and dewpoint. The investigation also confirmed that the Automated Weather Observation System (AWOS) was operating during the time the pilot was at the Coeur