HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On August 6, 2011, about 0720 mountain daylight time, a Ferguson Aircraft Fergy 1 light sport aircraft (LSA), N2515E, registered and operated by the student pilot, was substantially damaged when it impacted a hangar shortly after taking off from runway 33 at Meadow Lake Airport (KFLY), Falcon, Colorado. The flight instructor and student pilot on board were seriously injured. The instructional flight was being conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The local flight was originating at the time of the accident.

Witnesses said they saw the airplane take off and climb to about 75 to 100 feet above ground level. The airplane banked steeply to the right –- one witness said about 90 degrees -- the nose dropped 45 degrees nose down, and the airplane crashed into a hangar. A mechanic working nearby went to the scene and reported finding the engine running and fuel leaking on the ground.

When asked what happened, the student pilot told first responders, “I don’t know. It just went, it just went.” He reportedly told ambulance personnel he heard a "pop" as the airplane was taking off and thought a rudder cable had snapped. He later told his wife that he thought the airplane had climbed 200 feet when “a thermal or wind pushed the airplane.” According to the El Paso County Sheriff's report, the student pilot said "something on the aircraft broke." When this investigator interviewed him at his home on December 6, he did not recall saying a rudder cable had snapped.

PERSONNEL (CREW) INFORMATION

The instructor pilot, age 59, was a corporate pilot and held an airline transport pilot certificate with an airplane multiengine land rating, and types ratings in the Raytheon 400, Cessna 525, Hawker Siddeley HS-125, and the Mitsubishi MU-300. He held commercial privileges with an airplane single-engine land rating, and a flight instructor certificate with airplane single/multiengine and instrument ratings. His first class medical certificate, dated February 21, 2011, contained the restriction, “Must wear corrective lenses and possess glasses for near and intermediate vision.” At that time, the pilot estimated he had accrued 8,100 total flight hours. His logbook was not made available and it is unknown if he had previous experience in the Fergy 1. However, he was the registered owner’s only flight instructor and the owner reported they had logged 2.1 hours in the airplane. The date of the instructor-pilot's last flight review is unknown.

The student pilot, age 70, was the registered owner of N2515E. He did not hold a medical certificate, and was operating under his driver’s license. He had logged a total of 2.1 hours. The accident flight was the third flight in his training.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

N2515E, serial number 2589, was a kit manufactured by the Ferguson Aircraft Company of Dallas, Georgia, later to become Precision Tech Aircraft of Cartersville, Georgia. It was powered by a Rotax 582ULDCDI-99 engine (serial number 5306757), rated at 65 horsepower, driving a Powerfire 64-inch, 3-blade, fixed pitch, composite propeller. The airplane had an empty weight of 400 pounds and a gross weight of 900 pounds. It was 22 feet long and 5 feet, 8 inches tall. It had a wing span of 29 feet, 6 inches, giving it a wing area of 140 square feet. Construction of the airplane commenced on April 4, 2000, and was completed on July 7, 2007. The first flight occurred on July 15, 2007. The accident student pilot was the third owner of the airplane.

The last conditional inspection was made on October 15, 2010. At that time, 25 hours had been accrued on the airframe. At the time of the accident, 33 hours had been accrued on the airframe.

METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION

The following pertinent METARs (Meteorological Observation message for Routine Aviation) were recorded at Meadow Lake Airport (KFLY) on August 6 at 0711, 0731, and 0751, respectively:

Wind, 360 degrees at 7 knots; visibility, 10 miles; ceiling, 11,000 feet broken; temperature, 18 degrees C.; dew point, 7 degrees Celsius (C).; altimeter setting, 30.24 inches of Mercury.

Wind, 330 at 4 knots; visibility, 10 miles; sky condition, 11,000 feet scattered; temperature, 17 degrees C.; dew point, 7 degrees C.; altimeter setting, 30.24 inches of Mercury.

Wind, 300 degrees at 10 knots; visibility, 10 miles; sky condition, clear; temperature, 20 degrees C.; dew point, 9 degrees C.; altimeter setting, 30.24 inches of Mercury.

AERODROME INFORMATION

Meadow Lake Airport (KFLY) is an uncontrolled airport, located 3 miles northeast of Falcon, Colorado, and situated at an elevation of 6,874 feet msl (mean sea level). Runway 33 is 6,000 feet long, 60 feet wide, of asphalt construction, and has a 1.8% uphill gradient.

WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION

A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector from the Denver Flight Standards District Office responded to the accident site. He reported finding evidence consistent with the airplane striking a hangar in a 45-degree nose-low inverted attitude, bouncing off the hangar roof and skidding across Taxiway Echo before colliding with another hangar’s door. The airplane’s nose section, inverted right wing, and left main landing gear penetrated the hangar door, leaving holes measuring 3 feet by 3 feet, 3 feet by 4 feet, and 1 foot by 1 foot, respectively, the highest point of impact being 5 feet above ground level. Although control continuity was traced throughout the structure, there were numerous control cable separations. The inspector was unable to determine if the separations were pre-impact or the result of impact. However, a follow-up examination of the wreckage conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board found that all cable separations displayed signatures consistent with overload failures.