Accident Details
On June 20, 2010, at 2007 central daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Drone Pulsar III, registered as N47PD, experienced a serious accident during an aborted landing at Carmi Municipal Airport (CUL) in Carmi, Illinois. The aircraft was substantially damaged when it struck a bean field approximately 300 feet east of runway 18. The pilot, a 62-year-old commercial pilot, received fatal injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight.
Flight Description
The Pulsar III was part of a four-airplane formation flight that had departed earlier from CUL. According to the pilot of a Piper PA-28, which flew as the fourth aircraft in the formation, the group flew for about 40 minutes before returning to land. They performed a formation left break using 5-second intervals to land in trail on runway 18. The first two airplanes, both Cessna 172s, landed without incident. The third aircraft was the Pulsar III.
The PA-28 pilot reported that the accident airplane appeared fast and was floating down the runway before touching down. The second airplane had not yet vacated the runway, and the Pulsar III was closing on its position. The accident airplane then aborted the landing and initiated a go-around maneuver. The PA-28 pilot stated that the Pulsar III lifted off abruptly with an unusually high nose attitude, then seemed to stall and torque roll to the left before impacting the ground.
Witnesses on the ground reported hearing a squealing sound, as if brakes were applied, followed by an increase in engine noise. One witness observed the airplane lift from the ground and enter a left arcing turn before impact.
Aircraft Information
The accident airplane was an amateur-built Drone Pulsar III, which received its special airworthiness certificate in June 2002. It was powered by a 100-horsepower Rotax 912S engine. According to maintenance logbooks, the engine and airframe had accumulated 327 total hours as of May 2009.
Pilot Information
The pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with single-engine land and airplane instrument ratings, as well as a third-class medical certificate. His total flight time was approximately 980 hours, with about 327 hours in the accident make and model. He had been flying for about 7 to 8 years, according to the PA-28 pilot, and had flown the accident airplane on trips to Florida and Michigan.
Post-Accident Examination
A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the airplane at the accident site. The flight control surfaces were connected to their control cables. The composite propeller blades were all sheared from the propeller hub.
An autopsy of the pilot, conducted on June 21, 2010, at the White County Coroner's Office, revealed evidence of multiple blunt force injuries. A Forensic Toxicology Fatal Accident Report from the FAA Civil Aeromedical Institute returned negative results for all tested substances.
The PA-28 pilot noted that the group had flown three to four formation flights previously, with briefings before takeoff and debriefings upon return. He reported no known problems with the accident airplane.