History of Flight
On February 26, 2011, about 1730 mountain standard time, an experimental Neefjes Lancair 360 MK-II, registration N989TT, impacted terrain approximately 6.5 miles northwest of Milford, Utah. The private pilot, the sole occupant, received fatal injuries, and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight was conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal cross-country trip from Grand Junction, Colorado, to Chandler, Arizona, departing about 1 hour and 40 minutes prior to the accident.
The pilot initially operated in visual meteorological conditions but later entered an area of instrument meteorological conditions. He did not file a flight plan but contacted Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) for assistance. After departing Grand Junction, he contacted Denver ARTCC for VFR flight advisories and routing assistance. As he approached the boundary of Denver Center's airspace, the pilot mentioned possibly diverting due to weather and was handed off to Salt Lake Center around 1600.
During the flight, the pilot received weather reports for various airports, including Carbon County, Canyonlands, Page, Vernal, Tonopah, Las Vegas, and Torrance. He changed his destination multiple times, eventually deciding on Las Vegas. At about 1718, the pilot reported losing his engine and declared an emergency. He considered diverting to Milford or Cedar City but was advised of poor weather at both locations. The controller suggested Saint George, and the pilot requested vectors. Shortly thereafter, the pilot reported losing control of the airplane. His last transmission occurred at 1728:10, and radar contact was lost about one minute later.
The airplane was located in a ravine near the point of radar loss, approximately 6.5 miles west-northwest of Milford.
Pilot Information
The pilot was a 49-year-old male holding a private pilot certificate with an airplane single-engine land rating. He did not possess an instrument rating. His most recent FAA third-class medical certificate was issued on September 24, 2009, with a limitation requiring corrective lenses. According to his logbook, he had accumulated about 520 total flight hours, including approximately 70 hours in the Lancair.
Aircraft Information
The airplane was a single-engine experimental Neefjes Lancair 360 MK-II, equipped with a fuel-injected Penn Yan Aero XE-360 180-horsepower engine and a Hartzell HC-F2YR-1F constant-speed propeller. The airframe and engine had about 185 hours since new. The aircraft was built in Canada in 2006 and imported into the United States in July 2010.
Meteorological Information
At the time of the accident, Milford's 1706 METAR reported wind from 350 degrees at 12 knots, 1/4-mile visibility, heavy snow, freezing fog, vertical visibility 400 feet, temperature -3°C, and dew point -4°C. The 1752 METAR showed similar conditions with vertical visibility 200 feet. Visible satellite imagery revealed broken to overcast cloud layers over southwestern Utah, northwestern Arizona, and southeastern Nevada, with cloud tops uneven and arranged in a gravity wave pattern indicating turbulence. Radar and infrared satellite images showed clouds from the surface with tops varying up to about 20,000 feet. No record existed of the pilot receiving a preflight weather briefing.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The airplane impacted flat, open terrain with sparse low brush. It came to rest upright at coordinates 38° 26' 22.8" N, 113° 07' 7.68" W. The fuselage had separated from the aft edge of the wing structure, and the empennage had separated from the aft fuselage, but flight control tubes and electrical wires still connected the sections. No ground scars beyond those directly under the airplane were present, and there was no evidence of horizontal movement after initial contact. The cockpit, instrument panel, and engine compartment exhibited near-vertical crushing damage. Flight control continuity was established from the cockpit to all control surfaces.
Engine Examination
An NTSB-directed inspection of the engine found fuel throughout the fuel injection system with no anomalies. The right magneto produced spark when rotated; the left magneto had been replaced by a LAS Plasma II CD ignition system, which tested normally. Spark plugs showed no excessive wear or damage. The oil system was intact. The vacuum pump rotor was fractured but showed no pre-impact issues. Hand rotation of the propeller produced suction and compression in all cylinders, and borescope examination found no defects. The exhaust system showed the number 1 cylinder exhaust runner was lighter in color, consistent with a leaner mixture.
Subsequent testing of the fuel injection system revealed that the throttle body was impact-damaged but likely functional before impact. The flow divider tested within specifications. Three injection nozzles flowed within normal parameters; the number 2 nozzle had damaged threads but still flowed slightly below spec, while the number 1 nozzle orifice had sustained partial clogging. Data from the engine analyzer showed a sudden negative spike in exhaust gas temperatures (EGT) at about 1720, followed by a rise in EGT for cylinder number 1, then a significant drop in both EGT and cylinder head temperature (CHT) for that cylinder, while the other cylinders gradually decreased. The manufacturer of the fuel injection system analyzed the data and concluded that the sequence was consistent with a partial clogging of the number 1 cylinder injection nozzle orifice, leading to a lean condition and rough engine operation. Disassembly of the number 1 cylinder assembly revealed no additional anomalies.
Additional Testing
The LAS Plasma II CD ignition system components were tested at speeds from 200 to 3,000 rpm and produced consistent spark. The engine analyzer data was downloaded and reviewed, confirming the temperature anomalies described above. No evidence was found of any pre-existing mechanical failure that would have prevented the engine from producing power before the accident sequence.
Medical and Pathological Information
An autopsy by the Utah State Medical Examiner determined the pilot's cause of death as blunt force injuries from the crash, and the manner of death was accidental. Toxicological testing by the FAA's Civil Aerospace Medical Institute was negative for all substances tested.