WPR22FA348

The pilot and passenger were conducting a cross-country flight. Flight track data showed their flight close to and paralleling an interstate highway one to two miles away when the airplane started a controlled descent. During the descent the airplane made a turn away from the highway, made another turn to parallel the highway, and then made a turn angling toward the highway. The flight continued to descend until it impacted terrain about one mile from the highway. The airplane impacted flat desert terrain in a nose-low attitude and a post-impact fire ensued, which consumed most of the airplane wreckage. There were no reported radio calls from the pilot or witnesses to the accident. Investigators could not determine why the pilot initially turned away from the highway, which could have provided a suitable emergency landing surface. Examination of the engine and propeller found the propeller had broken aft and there were starter ring impact marks of an aft, non-rotational nature. Impact and fire damage prevented any examination of the fuel, air intake, electrical, and ignition systems. There were no signatures or conditions observed during the examination that would indicate there was any pre-accident catastrophic mechanical malfunction. Those findings and the controlled descent made by the airplane from cruise altitude are consistent with a loss of engine power before impact. The nose-down impact attitude is consistent with the airplane entering an aerodynamic stall at low altitude. The accident is consistent with a total loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined based on available evidence. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s decision to turn away from a suitable emergency landing surface, his failure to maintain adequate airspeed as the airplane neared the ground, and his exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.

On September 16, 2022, about 1335 mountain standard time , an experimental amateur-built Van’s RV-6A, N646RV, was destroyed when it crashed near Aztec, Arizona. The pilot and passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Automatic dependent surveillance – broadcast (ADS-B) and OpsVue data indicated the flight departed Brown Field Municipal Airport (SDM), San Diego, California, at 1209. The flight flew easterly, parallel to Interstate 8 (I-8), and maintained an altitude of about 7,300 ft mean sea level (msl) and 125 knots until it neared Aztec, Arizona. At 1331:19 airspeed and altitude began decreasing. The flight subsequently maneuvered away from I-8 for about one mile and then turned east and south-east before the ADS-B data ended in the vicinity of the accident location at 1334:28 (Figure 1). The airplane impacted desert terrain about one mile north of I-8 and was destroyed by post-impact fire. There was no evidence the pilot declared an emergency or made any radio calls before the accident. Figure 1 – Flight Track No pilot logbooks were located during the investigation. The wreckage was examined on site. Impact signatures were limited to a single impact crater, where the nose of the airplane hit terrain and where the wreckage came to rest upright, consistent with a nose-low attitude at impact. The fuselage, wings, and cockpit sections of the airplane were mostly consumed by post-impact fire. All flight control surfaces were identified in the wreckage. Flight control continuity could not be verified due to fire damage. All cockpit instrumentation was consumed by fire. See Figure 2. Figure 2 – Wreckage Portions of the wood propeller remained. Fractures of the propeller blade remnants indicated breakage in an aft direction. Impact marks were identified on the engine starter housing that matched the starter ring teeth. The impact marks were in an aft direction and showed little or no rotational movement (Figure 3). Figure 3 – Starter Impact Marks The engine was examined and disassembled. Each cylinder, piston, and the crankshaft and bearings were removed. There were no signatures or conditions observed during the examination that would indicate there was any pre-mishap catastrophic mechanical malfunction. Impact and fire damage prevented any examination of the fuel, air intake, electrical, and ignition systems.