Accident Overview
On June 9, 2012, about 0805 eastern daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Flower model JD, registration N9010T, was destroyed when it impacted terrain following an in-flight separation of the left wing. The commercial pilot, who was also the aircraft's builder and sole occupant, sustained fatal injuries. The flight originated from Greene County-Lewis A. Jackson Regional Airport near Dayton, Ohio, at an unconfirmed time. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed.
Aircraft and Pilot Information
The accident airplane was an original design amateur-built monoplane with conventional landing gear. Its structure included a fabric-covered welded steel tube fuselage and tail surfaces, while the wings were constructed from wood and composite materials with wood spars as the primary load-bearing components. Power was provided by a General Motors LS-1 reciprocating V-8 engine. The aircraft was designed and built by the pilot.
The pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land, multiengine land, instrument airplane, and glider. According to FAA records, he had accumulated over 7,000 hours of flight time as of his most recent medical examination on May 5, 2010. That examination resulted in a third-class airman medical certificate with a restriction requiring corrective lenses for near vision. The pilot's logbook was not available for review.
Meteorological Conditions
Weather at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (FFO), about 15 miles northwest of the accident site, at 0755 included calm wind, visibility 10 miles, few clouds at 25,000 feet above ground level, temperature 17°C, dew point 13°C, and an altimeter setting of 30.04 inches of mercury.
Wreckage Examination
The main wreckage came to rest in a rural grass field northeast of Spring Valley, Ohio. The debris field contained the fuselage, engine, tail surfaces, and the right wing. The fuselage was severely crushed, the tail surfaces remained attached with control surfaces intact, and the right wing was heavily damaged and broken into pieces, consistent with ground impact separation.
The left wing was located approximately half a mile east of the main wreckage and was mostly intact, though its control surfaces were separated. Examination of the inboard end of the left main wing spar revealed that the wood structure had failed and separated through the spar attachment bolt locations.
The engine sustained impact damage and could not be rotated; no further examination was performed. Postaccident examinations of the airframe found no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures other than the separated spar.
Medical and Pathological Information
An autopsy conducted by the Montgomery County Coroner's Office on June 10, 2012, attributed the pilot's death to injuries sustained in the accident. Toxicology testing by the FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute detected ethanol in the brain (22 mg/dL, mg/hg) and muscle.