Accident Details
On June 12, 2020, at 1950 eastern daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Vans RV-8 airplane, registration N553KM, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident at Henry County Airport (HMP), Hampton, Georgia. The pilot sustained serious injuries. The flight was conducted under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
Witness Observations
A witness captured the accident flight on video. The video shows the airplane taking off, entering a steep climb, performing a tight 180° turn, then descending steeply before leveling off near the ground and traveling in the opposite direction of takeoff over the airfield. Throughout the video, the engine can be heard misfiring and black smoke trailing the airplane. Witness testimony matched the video. Additional witnesses described the airplane making a subsequent 180° turn for landing on the departure runway. At low altitude and low airspeed, the airplane stalled. It then aligned with the left base leg of the traffic pattern for runway 06 at low altitude and impacted terrain in a flat attitude at the approach end of the runway. The landing gear and cockpit canopy separated, and the wings and fuselage were substantially damaged. Examination of the video forwarded by the airplane’s owner revealed a steep, nearly vertical climb after takeoff, followed by maneuvers consistent with witness accounts.
Flight Data and Postaccident Examination
Data recovered from non-volatile memory of onboard avionics indicated a steep pitch upward and steep left roll after takeoff, occurring below 500 ft over the runway environment with large pitch and roll values. This was followed by a loss of oil pressure and RPM. A postaccident examination confirmed flight control continuity. Examination of the engine revealed that the No. 2 fuel nozzle was blocked by an unspecified material. Spark plugs from the top and bottom showed signatures consistent with rich mixtures in cylinders Nos. 1 and 4 and lean mixtures in cylinders Nos. 2 and 3. No other anomalies were found in the airframe or engine.