Accident Details
On May 29, 2010, about 1250 central daylight time, an Evektor-Aerotechnik AS Sportstar Plus light sport airplane, registration N121EV, impacted terrain while landing at Covey Trails Airport (X09), Richmond, Texas. The pilot, who was the sole occupant, sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was substantially damaged. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The local flight originated from X09 at an unknown time.
Witnesses observed the airplane on final approach to the runway at X09. They reported that the airplane was flying at a lower than normal altitude when it suddenly nosed down and impacted terrain about 400 feet short of the approach end of runway 36. The airplane came to rest upright, oriented on a heading of about 240 degrees. The cockpit canopy separated from the airplane during the impact and came to rest about 20 feet to the northwest from the main wreckage. Both fuel tanks were approximately half full of gasoline, but there was no fuel spill and no postimpact fire.
Witnesses immediately responded to the accident scene to give assistance. The injured pilot was conscious and told several witnesses and first responders that the cockpit canopy came open in-flight and he subsequently lost control before crashing.
Aircraft and Pilot Information
The 76-year-old pilot held a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single- and multi-engine land and instrument airplane. He also held an expired third-class medical certificate issued on March 27, 2006; however, a current medical certificate was not required for flight in this type of airplane. The pilot's logbook showed 1,662.1 total flight hours, with 530.6 hours in multi-engine airplanes and 1,131.5 hours in single-engine airplanes. His total experience in the accident airplane type was estimated at 100 hours. The most recent flight review was completed on March 23, 2010.
The airplane was an Evektor-Aerotechnik AS Sportstar Plus, serial number 20081011. It was a low-wing, single-engine airplane with tricycle fixed landing gear and a conventional tail, powered by a 100-horsepower Rotax 912ULS engine driving a Woodcomp “Klassic” three-bladed composite propeller. The cockpit had side-by-side seating enclosed by a front-hinged canopy with a rotating handle at the top rear that latched onto the frame of the non-operating rear canopy. The airplane's date of manufacture was November 1, 2007, and it received an FAA special airworthiness certificate as a light sport airplane on April 5, 2008. The pilot purchased N121EV on April 14, 2008.
Maintenance records showed that the most recent annual condition inspection was completed on April 21, 2010, at a tachometer reading of 99.5 hours. A logbook entry on May 26, 2010, recorded a total time of 101.6 hours.
Wreckage Examination
The investigator-in-charge performed an examination on June 16, 2010. Both wings sustained substantial leading edge impact damage with wrinkling of upper skins. The ailerons remained attached without obvious impact damage. The empennage, horizontal stabilizer, and vertical fin appeared undamaged. Control continuity was confirmed from the cockpit to both ailerons and the elevator; rudder control continuity was confirmed from the rudder to the middle fuselage, but damage near the pedals prevented full examination. The elevator trim tab remained attached and was in a neutral position.
The nose gear was collapsed rearward and had penetrated upward through the cockpit floor. Upward crushing damage extended from the forward firewall to the empennage. Both main landing gear legs were partially collapsed rearward but remained under the wings. The inboard section of both flaps had impact damage from the main landing gear legs collapsing onto them; the flaps remained attached at their forward hinge but hung loose at about 90 degrees, and the exact position at impact could not be determined.
Engine components remained attached, with slight crushing damage to some exhaust system components and the coolant heat exchanger. The oil reservoir was about half full. No evidence of lubrication or thermal distress was found. The carburetors were inspected; all control arms and cables were attached, and clean fuel was present in both bowls. Spark plugs exhibited normal wear, and piston heads appeared nominal. The engine examination revealed no preaccident mechanical malfunctions.
The cockpit canopy latch handle and latch hook on the operating canopy were undamaged and operated normally, with no witness marks indicating failure. The centering pin was undamaged. On the rear canopy, the latch tang was undamaged and firmly attached, and the centering fork was also undamaged. Both forward canopy hinge clevis rod ends and hold-open struts showed bending and separated fractures consistent with overload failures. The upper fuselage area where the forward canopy hinges attach exhibited marks indicating that the canopy hinge separated from the forward fuselage while rotating up and departing forward. The overall examination found no preaccident mechanical malfunctions that would have precluded normal operations.
Medical and Toxicology Information
The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences conducted an autopsy on the pilot on June 3, 2010. The cause of death was listed as multiple blunt force injuries. Postmortem toxicology performed by the FAA Bioaeronautical Research Science Laboratory detected no ethanol or drugs in the blood; tests for carbon monoxide and cyanide were not performed.