2018 Louisa County Airport Titan Tornado 1 Accident (N38FD)

Accident Overview and Flight History On November 4, 2018, at approximately 1415 eastern standard time, an experimental amateur-built Titan Tornado 1 airplane, registration N38FD, was substantially damaged when it impacted a field during initial climb from Louisa County Airport (LKU) in Louisa, Virginia. The sport pilot was fatally injured. The flight was a local personal operation under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91, with no flight plan filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. A witness at the airport's fixed-based operator heard the takeoff between 1400 and 1430, noting it sounded louder than usual. The witness also heard an expletive over the common traffic advisory frequency before communications ceased. The airport manager landed his aircraft around 1415, near the time of the accident airplane's departure. The wreckage was located in a field about one mile northeast of the airport around 1500.