History of Flight
On July 19, 2018, about 1700 eastern daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Fisher Celebrity biplane, registration N228LC, suffered an in-flight breakup and impacted terrain near Patriot, Indiana. The pilot, who held an airline transport pilot certificate, was fatally injured, and the airplane was destroyed. The flight was operated under 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated from the pilot's personal airstrip in Warsaw, Kentucky, shortly before the accident. When the pilot did not return, his wife notified authorities. The wreckage was located the following morning at about 0930 in a cornfield on the west side of the Ohio River, about 4 miles east of the airstrip. A nearby resident reported hearing an airplane fly overhead around 1700, followed by a loud thud.
Personnel Information
The pilot held an airline transport pilot certificate with multiengine land rating, type ratings in Boeing 747-400, 757, 767, Douglas DC-9, and Cessna 500, and commercial privileges with single-engine land rating. He also held a remote pilot certificate and a flight engineer certificate with turbojet rating. His third-class medical certificate, dated April 20, 2016, required glasses for near vision. He reported 15,020 total flight hours and 10 hours in the previous six months. After his medical certificate expired in April 2018, he obtained a Basic Medical Certificate (BasicMed) on April 20, 2018. One logbook showed 256.2 hours from August 25, 2017, to July 13, 2018. The pilot purchased the accident airplane on July 4, 2018, and had flown it 7 times for a total of 2.7 hours prior to the accident flight.
Aircraft Information
The accident airplane, serial number AV1076, received an FAA Special Airworthiness Certificate on May 23, 1995. It was powered by a 100-horsepower Continental O-200-A engine driving a Tennessee two-blade fixed-pitch wooden propeller (model 70-44). Gross weight was 1,100 lbs and empty weight 601 lbs. The most recent condition inspection was performed on July 1, 2018, at a Hobbs reading of 442.0 hours and total time-in-service of 589.0 hours.
Meteorological Information
Weather observations from Madison Municipal Airport, about 30 miles west, recorded at 1655: wind 170° at 3 knots, visibility 10 miles, clear sky, temperature 30°C, dew point 12°C, altimeter 29.99 inHg. At 1715: wind 150° at 5 knots, visibility 10 miles, clear sky, temperature 30°C, dew point 13°C, altimeter 29.98 inHg.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The airplane impacted a cornfield about 40 ft south of Indiana State Highway 156. Corn stalks were 7–8 ft tall. The airplane came to rest on its right side on a magnetic heading of 310°. The nose and cockpit were fragmented. The left horizontal stabilizer was undamaged; the right horizontal stabilizer, vertical stabilizer, and rudder were crushed. The upper tip of the rudder was found about 400 yards west. The airspeed indicator read 103 mph; the Kollsman window indicated 30.04 inHg. Other instruments were destroyed. Engine and propeller were deeply embedded. The upper and lower left wings were attached to each other but separated from the fuselage and thrust forward. The aileron remained loosely attached. Parts of the lower right wing were with the wreckage but not attached; additional parts were scattered between 400 and 800 yards west. A large portion of the upper right wing was not located. Most of the lower bottom wing was located. Small pieces of wing spar and webbing were scattered to the right. Portions of the right wings were found about 3 days later about 80 yards away, including a portion of the leading edge cuff and ribs. The wreckage was recovered to Springfield, Tennessee for examination. One propeller blade had separated; about 8 inches of the other remained. Propeller blade signatures were consistent with rotation at impact. Attachment fittings from the lower right-wing rear spar, main spar, and right aileron rod end were examined. Each had fractures intersecting the inboard wing spar attachment bolt hole, with features consistent with ductile overstress fracture and upward bending of the wing. The outboard end of the aft spar fitting was bent aft, consistent with the entire upper and lower right wings folding upward and rearward and separating. Upward bending of the lower wing attachment was secondary to a primary failure elsewhere, the location of which could not be determined due to unrecovered wing structure. No evidence of preexisting damage was found on the fittings.
Medical and Pathological Information
An autopsy performed at Highpoint Health, Lawrenceburg, Indiana, listed the cause of death as multiple blunt force injuries. Toxicology testing by the FAA Forensic Science Laboratory detected ethanol in brain (71 mg/dL) and muscle (117 mg/dL) tissue, and N-Butanol and Propanol in muscle tissue. Putrefaction was noted. No drugs were detected. Carbon monoxide and cyanide tests were not performed.