Incident Overview
On an unspecified date, a flight conducting dual check-out procedures at Space Coast Regional Airport (TIX) in Titusville, Florida, collided with terrain during single-engine landing practice. The aircraft, piloted by a rated Commercial MEL pilot under the supervision of a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI), was in the landing pattern for runway 09 when the accident occurred.
Witness and Survivor Accounts
An eyewitness, the tower controller managing the flight in the pattern, reported that as the airplane approached the abeam-of-landing point for runway 09, it abruptly entered a wings-vertical attitude and dove toward the ground. The CFI, who survived the crash, stated postcrash that he had zero-thrusted the right engine to prepare for single-engine landing practice. Immediately afterward, the aircraft abruptly entered a half roll to the left, pitched down, and struck the terrain.
The CFI noted that he was not "on the controls with the pilot" and therefore could not determine what control pressures the pilot might have been applying. He also speculated that outflow from nearby power plant smoke stacks and a recent runway change from 27 to 09 may have contributed to turbulence or air instability.
Investigation Findings
Postcrash examination of the engines, airframe, and their components revealed nothing causal. Two tower controllers—one with 23 years of experience at TIX and the other with 19 years—stated that neither had ever heard an aircraft in the pattern complain of smoke stack-generated air instability.
Probable Cause
The investigation identified no probable cause.