History of Flight
On September 8, 2010, at 1958 eastern daylight time, an amateur-built Thompson Kolb Twinstar Mark III, registration N408K, impacted terrain following a loss of control while landing on runway 36 at Elkhart Municipal Airport (EKM), Elkhart, Indiana. The pilot was fatally injured and the airplane was substantially damaged. The flight was conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The local flight departed EKM about 1938.
The accident occurred on the first flight after completion of the airplane's construction. According to EKM air traffic control tower personnel, the pilot spoke with controllers before departure, stating he planned to orbit the airport at 3,000 feet to get a feel for the airplane and determine its stall speed and handling characteristics.
Witnesses observed the flight. An air traffic controller reported that the airplane took off and circled the airport for 10 to 12 minutes. The pilot then radioed he was ready to return. The controller cleared the pilot for the option to land, go-around, low pass, touch and go, or stop and go. The controller was uncertain if the airplane touched down, but saw it nose down and impact the ground off the side of the runway.
Another witness, a pilot, observed the takeoff. The airplane climbed to about 50 feet above the runway, leveled off, flew parallel to the runway, then climbed to an estimated 2,500 feet. After circling the airport about three times, it turned onto final approach for runway 36. The witness described a "very steep descent" onto final approach before losing sight behind trees. The engine sounded normal throughout.
Video captured the accident sequence. The airplane descended at a steep angle toward the airport in front of a tree line, aligned with the grass between the runway and taxiway rather than the runway. As it neared the ground, the nose pitched up, down, and up again before dropping and impacting the ground.
Pilot Information
The 48-year-old pilot held a sport pilot certificate issued on August 31, 2009, and did not hold an FAA medical certificate. His logbook as of September 5, 2010, indicated 76 total flight hours, including about 49 hours in an Allegro light sport airplane. He had logged 8 hours of dual flight instruction in a Kolb Twinstar Mark III LSA (3 hours in May 2005 and 5 hours in June 2010) and no pilot-in-command time in that model.
Aircraft Information
The airplane was an amateur-built Kolb Twinstar Mark III, serial number M3X6-4-00083, built and owned by the pilot. It is a two-place tailwheel airplane with short takeoff and landing capabilities. The tail and wings fold for transport and storage. Wings are strut-braced, fabric covered, with steel tubing and aluminum sub-structure. Flight controls use control cables and push/pull tubes. Power came from a 100 horsepower, pusher-mounted Rotax 912 engine mounted on the aft fuselage, partially above the wing height. The airplane met light sport aircraft limitations.
The aircraft registration was issued to the pilot on April 5, 2010. An Experimental category Special Airworthiness Certificate and Experimental Operating Limitations were issued on July 24, 2010. The accident occurred during the first flight.
A friend familiar with Kolb Twinstar Mark III airplanes noted that because the pusher engine is mounted high, these airplanes tend to nose up when engine power is removed and nose down when power is added.
Meteorological Information
At 1855, the automated weather observing system at EKM reported wind from 360 degrees at 7 knots, 10 statute miles visibility, clear skies, temperature 17°C, dew point 8°C, and barometric pressure 30.10 inches of Mercury.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The airplane impacted a grass field between runway 36 and the parallel taxiway, approximately 1,000 feet from the approach end of runway 36 and about 30 feet west of the runway. Video showed the airplane contacting the ground in a nose-down, slight right wing low attitude, then rolling tail over nose before coming to rest upright.
The instrument panel was pushed back into the cockpit. The left wing remained attached; the right wing detached with the wing strut still attached. The tailboom-style aft fuselage fractured near the fuselage. All flight control surfaces remained attached, and flight control continuity was established from cockpit to controls. All three propeller blades were broken. The engine remained attached to its mounts. Examination of the airframe revealed no failure or malfunction that would have resulted in the loss of control.
Medical and Pathological Information
An autopsy performed on September 9, 2010, at the South Bend Medical Foundation listed findings including "multiple blunt force injuries." FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute toxicology testing detected Amlodipine in liver and blood, Atropine in heart and blood, and Diphenhydramine in liver and 0.164 (ug/ml, ug/g) in blood. Ibuprofen and Naproxen were also detected in blood.