Flight History
On February 28, 2017, at about 1:02 p.m. eastern standard time, an experimental, amateur-built Sonex, N315AL, collided with a building in Methuen, Massachusetts, while on final approach to Lawrence Municipal Airport (LWM). The sport pilot, who owned the airplane, was fatally injured. The flight was conducted under visual meteorological conditions with no flight plan filed.
The pilot had previously reported fuel leaks in the cockpit due to a cross-threaded connector. In an email to his Experimental Aviation Association chapter on February 25, he stated that he had removed and reinstalled the fuel tank twice to fix a cross-threaded outlet fitting causing a fuel leak near the fuel shutoff valve. He indicated the issue was resolved and planned to fly the following Tuesday, remaining in the airport traffic pattern to perform touch-and-go landings.
On the accident day, the pilot purchased 12 gallons of fuel around 12:45 p.m. He informed the tower controller that he would stay in the pattern for takeoffs and landings. The controller cleared him for takeoff from runway 14 with a left closed traffic pattern and instructed him to report mid-field downwind. The pilot acknowledged and later reported mid-field at 1,400 ft above ground level. He was subsequently cleared to land but did not acknowledge the clearance.
The controller reported that as the airplane turned onto final at about 500 ft agl, it made a shallow S-turn to the left and then back to the right before suddenly nosing over in a right turn and disappearing from view. Several witnesses on a nearby highway saw the airplane dive behind trees, with one reporting the belly was "engulfed in flames" described as "very bright red." Additional witnesses reported the airplane was on fire and burst into flame.
Aircraft and Pilot Information
The pilot received his sport pilot certificate on May 21, 2014. His logbook showed 128.5 total flight hours, with 28 hours in the accident airplane make and model as of his last logged flight about four months prior. He was not required to hold a medical certificate as a sport pilot.
The airplane was a two-seat, single-engine, low-wing, tailwheel-equipped experimental amateur-built Sonex with a Jabiru 3300L six-cylinder, 120-horsepower reciprocating engine. The pilot/owner purchased it as a kit in January 2015 and completed construction; it received a special airworthiness certificate on May 4, 2016. Airframe records indicated a total time of 28.4 hours as of October 8, 2016, when the pilot flew 1.4 hours. The engine logbook had a single entry on May 1, 2016, noting "ground run no leaks." No additional engine maintenance was documented.
Accident Scene and Wreckage
The airplane struck the roof of a three-story condominium building about 1,800 ft from the approach end of runway 14. It came to rest in the attic and upper bedrooms in a nose-low attitude on a heading of about 208°, with the empennage partially protruding from the roof. Both wings remained attached but bent aft about 45°. A fire in the bedroom was quickly extinguished by the building's fire suppression system, limiting fire damage to the immediate area.
The engine separated from the firewall and came to rest upright against a wall about 5 ft forward of the fuselage. The two-blade propeller blades separated about 12 inches from the hub. The 17-gallon polymer fuel tank remained intact and contained about 7 gallons of 100 low-lead aviation fuel. Fuel lines were severed and leaking. The fuel shutoff valve was separated, heavily fire-damaged, and its preimpact position could not be determined. The gascolator contained residual fuel with no contaminants. The throttle body separated but remained connected via control cable; the fuel line into the regulator was easily spun by hand. Spark plugs showed normal wear; engine continuity and compression were confirmed. Flight control continuity was established except for some areas due to impact damage.
Thermal damage was concentrated on the lower left side of the engine, with soot and heat signatures on the fuselage bottom, radio antennae, and right wing. The lower oil line was not secured, with a loose blue aluminum nut and oil spray on the lower left engine side. The instrument panel, including an Xtreme-EFIS, was impact- and heat-damaged; its SD card contained only a file from February 5, 2016, consistent with ground operation, and no relevant flight data was recovered.
Medical Examination
An autopsy performed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the cause of death as multiple blunt force and thermal injuries. The pilot had severe coronary artery disease with a previously placed stent in the left anterior descending artery, showing 90% stenosis in the stent area and 80% stenosis distally. The circumflex artery had 80% stenosis near a previous stent, and the right coronary artery had up to 40% stenosis. Microscopy revealed interstitial fibrosis, hypertrophic cardiomyocytes, and hypertensive vascular changes. Toxicology testing identified rosuvastatin in blood and urine, a cholesterol-lowering medication not considered impairing.