History of Flight
On February 11, 2015, at approximately 1433 mountain standard time, an experimental, amateur-built Wheeler Express, registration N564ER, impacted terrain during an off-airport forced landing near Kersey, Colorado. The private pilot and airline transport pilot-rated passenger were fatally injured, and the airplane was destroyed. The flight was conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The airplane departed from Greeley-Weld County Municipal Airport (GXY), Greeley, Colorado, and was en route to Front Range Airport (FTG), Watkins, Colorado.
An airframe and powerplant mechanic at GXY reported hearing the accident airplane's engine making odd noises as it taxied to the parking area. He stated that the engine was backfiring and sounded like one or more cylinders was misfiring. Later, the two pilots told the mechanic they were experiencing engine difficulty. The pilots declined to wait for the mechanic's boss, who could have provided more knowledge, and indicated they planned to return to FTG. The mechanic offered to listen to the engine as they started it. The pilots boarded without conducting a preflight inspection and attempted to start the engine; it would not start. The mechanic assisted by using auxiliary power and noted that the battery had a charge but the starter solenoid "didn't click like it should" and was not engaging the starter. Both pilots then disembarked, and the mechanic returned to work.
About 10 minutes later, one of the pilots requested a "jumper wire" to bypass the starter solenoid. A subsequent start attempt was successful. As the airplane taxied out, the engine began to run rough, but the pilots continued. The mechanic did not see the takeoff. Another witness, about 3/4 mile from the accident site, heard the engine sputtering. When the airplane flew overhead at 200-300 feet above ground level, the engine was running rough and occasionally missing. The airplane proceeded southeast when a backfire was heard; the witness believed the engine stopped. The airplane then descended and impacted the ground at high speed in an approximate 30° nose-down attitude. A postimpact fire occurred. The witness called 911 and fought the fire with handheld extinguishers until emergency responders arrived.
Personnel Information
The pilot, aged 65, held a private pilot certificate with a single-engine land rating and a repairman experimental amateur builder certificate. He was issued a third-class medical certificate on February 25, 2013, with a limitation requiring corrective lenses. On the application, he reported 250 total flight hours and 20 hours in the preceding six months. His logbook showed his most recent flight review was completed on September 22, 2007. Between that review and the accident, he had two flights: one on February 15, 2013 (takeoffs and landings), and another on April 3, 2013 (a high-speed taxi and flight test of the accident airplane), totaling 1.4 hours.
The passenger, aged 79, held an airline transport pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land, single-engine sea, multi-engine land, and instrument. He was type-rated in several commercial and business aircraft and held a flight engineer certificate for turbojet aircraft. He was issued a third-class medical certificate on April 2, 2014, with a limitation that glasses must be available for near vision. On the application, he reported 22,750 total flight hours and 23.7 hours in the preceding six months. His logbook showed he completed a flight review on April 23, 2014.
Aircraft Information
The composite construction airplane was a four-place, low-wing, tricycle landing gear monoplane. It was built from a kit by the pilot/owner and completed in 2013. It was equipped with two 46-gallon fuel tanks in the wings and powered by a Lycoming IO-540-S1A5 engine, rated at 300 hp at 2,800 rpm, driving a Hartzell HC-C2YR-1BF two-bladed constant-speed propeller.
A review of the airplane's maintenance logbooks showed that a condition inspection was completed on March 3, 2014, with a recorded tachometer time of 5.0 hours. The airframe hours (Hobbs) meter recovered at the accident site read 14.4 hours.
Meteorological Information
The 1435 automated weather observation at GXY, about 6 statute miles northwest of the accident site, recorded wind from 190° at 5 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, clear skies, temperature 52°F, dew point 27°F, and an altimeter setting of 30.34 inches of mercury.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The accident site was located about 2 statute miles south of Kersey in a field at the corner of two county roads. The main wreckage comprised the separated propeller, separated engine, cabin area, baggage compartment, left and right wings, nose and main landing gear, aft fuselage, and separated empennage. A 20-foot-long impact crater and ground scar extended on a southeast heading. The propeller was embedded in the crater and broken torsionally at the flange. Blades showed torsional bending, leading edge bends and gouges, and chordwise scratches. A 75-foot debris field contained broken pieces of wings, forward fuselage, windscreen, cabin interior, instrument panel, avionics, radios, and instruments. The empennage came to rest inverted at the end of the debris field. About 30 feet southeast of the empennage, a burned area of grass and dirt, about 50 feet long and 10 feet wide, contained the remainder of the cabin, wings, fuel tanks, and main landing gear, all charred by postimpact fire. The intact engine, with mounts and firewall, came to rest upright on a road east of the burned area. Flight control continuity to elevator, rudder, and ailerons was established.
Medical and Pathological Information
Autopsies of both pilots were conducted by the Weld County Coroner. Both pilots' cause of death was attributed to multiple force injuries suffered in an airplane crash. Toxicology testing on the pilot identified 0.010 gm/dl of ethanol in muscle but none in liver; losartan, a prescription blood pressure medication, was identified in liver but not blood. Ethanol may be produced after death. Toxicology testing on the pilot-rated passenger identified diphenhydramine in liver and blood, with blood levels below the quantification limit.
Tests and Research
The airplane was examined at a salvage facility. The fuel selector was found on the left tank. The engine was separated and examined: crankshaft rotated by hand, thumb compression established on all cylinders, drive train continuity throughout. Borescope examination revealed no anomalies. Both magnetos were impact-damaged and would not produce spark. The fuel servo was attached; the brass plug was tight and properly safetied. The fuel inlet screen and injectors were free of debris. The oil pickup screen was also clear. No pre-impact anomalies were found. Fuel receipts showed the airplane was fueled with 20 gallons of 100 low lead aviation gasoline on February 6, 2015. Engine logbooks indicated the engine was last overhauled on July 1, 1994. Lycoming Service Instruction 100.9AW recommends overhaul every 12 years or 1,800 hours, whichever occurs first. The recovered handheld GPS unit was examined; data from the accident flight was not recorded.