History of Flight
On July 1, 2019, at approximately 2045 eastern daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Rans S12 airplane, registration N1094K, was substantially damaged when it crashed near Orleans, Indiana. The pilot sustained fatal injuries. The flight was conducted as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector noted that the pilot had completed two or three landings prior to the accident flight. A camera near the runway recorded a segment showing the airplane spiraling downward and impacting the runway, followed by a postimpact fire. A neighbor near the airstrip reported hearing the airplane fly over his barn, then hearing the motor stop. The motor restarted, and the airplane proceeded straight toward the runway. The witness then heard the crash and observed the fire.
Personnel Information
The pilot had received flight training toward a sport pilot certificate and had obtained a flight instructor's endorsement on September 26, 2018, indicating a solo check in the accident airplane.
Aircraft Information
According to the pilot's wife, he purchased the airplane from someone in Michigan, but no FAA record of the purchase could be found, and previous owners could not be located. The pilot's flight instructor reported that the airplane was not equipped with a stall warning indicator or an angle of attack indicator. FAA Advisory Circular 90-109A describes the Rans S12 as a low-inertia, high-drag airplane that rapidly loses airspeed and altitude during power loss or reduction, and is susceptible to unintentional stalls due to airspeed decay in turns.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The airplane came to rest on its nose, oriented on a magnetic heading of about 135°, on the west edge of a north/south-oriented private airstrip near its north end. Grass and corn near the airplane exhibited blight and charring consistent with a ground fire. The fabric wing skins and upper fuselage were consumed by fire. The engine and propeller showed discoloration, deformation, and consumption from fire damage. All separations appeared overload or thermal-related. No preimpact structural anomalies were found. Flight control continuity was traced from the cockpit to the control surfaces. Propeller hub bolts were in place with no visible cracking, but thermal damage to the blades prevented determining if the blade collars had rotated between the hub halves. The engine could not be rotated due to thermal damage.
Medical and Pathological Information
An autopsy conducted by the Lawrence County Forensic Services Center listed the cause of death as head, chest, and abdominal injuries. No significant natural disease was identified. Toxicology testing detected amino-clonazepam (a metabolite of clonazepam), sertraline, and desmethylsertraline in blood and urine. Sertraline is an antidepressant not known to be directly impairing; desmethylsertraline is its metabolite. Amino-clonazepam is a metabolite of clonazepam, a central nervous system depressant, but the parent compound was not present. Medical records from the three years preceding the accident indicated the pilot had been treated with sertraline and clonazepam for an unspecified anxiety disorder.