History of Flight
On July 7, 2008, at 1755 eastern daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Douglas A. Pohl Lancair IV-P, registration N488SD, crashed at North Perry Airport (HWO) in Hollywood, Florida. The flight was operated by the private pilot under Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed; no flight plan was filed. Witnesses reported that the airplane departed runway 9R, rotated about 2,100 feet down the runway, and retracted landing gear at about 50 feet above ground level (agl). At an estimated 150 feet agl, past the departure end of the runway, an interruption of engine power occurred. One witness described a sound like an 18-wheeler downshifting; another reported a complete power loss. The airplane then entered a left turn, increasing bank angle, and stalled at about 80 degrees of bank while passing through a north heading. It descended straight down in a left spiral, impacting nose-first adjacent to a tennis court on the airport perimeter. The airplane came to rest on a 20-foot-tall tennis court fence, and a fire ensued.
Personnel Information
The pilot, aged 57, held a private pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land and instrument airplane. He held a third-class medical certificate issued in December 2006 with a limitation to wear corrective lenses. At the time of the medical, he documented 875 total flight hours. He also held a repairman experimental aircraft builder certificate and an inspection certificate for the Pohl Lancair IV-P, serial number LIV-008, issued July 9, 2001. His flight logbooks indicated a total of 1,255 hours.
Aircraft Information
The airplane was an experimental amateur-built Lancair IV-P, serial number LIV-008, issued an experimental airworthiness certificate normal category on July 9, 2001. It was certified per 14 CFR Part 23 airworthiness standards. Maintenance records showed an annual condition/100-hour inspection program; the last inspection was on August 15, 2007, at a total airframe time of 378 hours. The engine was a Silver Wing Aviation AV8-470 liquid-cooled with an EPI Mark-9 PSRU gearbox driving a three-blade propeller. Total engine time at the last inspection was 378 hours. No unresolved maintenance discrepancies were noted prior to departure.
Meteorological Information
The HWO weather observation at 1753 recorded: winds 100 degrees at 11 knots; visibility 10 statute miles; sky clear; temperature 31°C; dew point 23°C; altimeter 30.07 inches of mercury.
Communication
At 1752, the pilot requested taxi instructions from ground control and was cleared to runway 9R. At 1754, he advised the tower he was ready for takeoff and was cleared for takeoff, which he acknowledged. No further communication occurred.
Aerodrome Information
North Perry Airport has four runways supporting north, south, west, and east operations. It is adjacent to residential homes and businesses. Runway 9 is 3,255 feet long and 100 feet wide, asphalt.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The airplane came to rest on a heading of 180 degrees magnetic. The front section impacted the ground, separating the engine nacelle from the fuselage. The forward cockpit area was ripped open. The fuselage and attached wings rested adjacent to and partially on the 20-foot tennis court fence. The empennage separated and remained partially attached, resting on the fence. A postimpact fire consumed sections of the right wing, right fuselage cabin area, and cabin crown. Examination by an airframe and powerplant mechanic with FAA oversight found no preimpact failure or malfunction of flight controls that would have prevented normal operation. Engine and accessory examination did not reveal evidence for the power loss. The inner quill shaft in the gearbox was found fractured; metallurgical examination by the NTSB Materials Laboratory determined the fracture was from overload due to impact.
Medical and Pathological Information
A postmortem examination of the pilot was conducted by the Florida State Medical Examiner on July 8, 2008. The cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries. Toxicological testing by the FAA Civil Aeromedical Institute was negative for alcohol but detected desmethylsertraline and sertraline in blood and liver.
Test and Research
FAA Advisory Circular 61-67C, Stall and Spin Awareness Training, notes that increased load factors in steep turns or spirals raise stall speed. Recoveries involve tradeoffs between altitude loss and load factor increase.