REFLECTOR: Fwd: [c-a] velocity accident update
Richard at Riley.net
Richard at Riley.net
Mon Aug 23 22:53:58 CDT 2004
I'm forwarding this from the Canard Aviator's mailing list. I don't have
any information beyond what is here.
RR
===================================
To: <canard-aviators at yahoogroups.com>
From: "James Jorgensen" <gravit8 at peoplepc.com>
Subject: [c-a] velocity accident update
These are the facts as I see them, about my father's accident in his
Velocity XLRG, N190J on
08/07/04 near Belvidere, Kansas. I am sharing this with the group to avoid
unnecessary
speculation, and because I feel there is educational value in accidents.
There better be:
He received a weather briefing prior to departing Dodge City around 10:00
a.m. Local ceilings at the time of departure were 900 ft. with a visibility
of 5 miles in mist. Ceilings 60 miles out along his intended route were 3400
ft. Tops were not reported in his briefing, but they were later estimated at
6-9000 ft. He was spotted on radar squawking 1200, in a level climb through
4000', then initiating a climbing turn which transitioned to a descending
turn as he reached 6000 ft. Radar coverage in the area is spotty below
4000', so the final moments of his descent are unclear.
Witnesses indicated that the aircraft emerged from the overcast in a spiral
with the engine 'surging' (the right wing departed before the aircraft
became visible, so the 'surging' was probably due to doppler effect from
spinning). After a few turns, there was a puff of 'white smoke' and/or an
explosion, and the left wing departed the aircraft.
The wreckage indicates a failure of the centersection spar in
bending/torsion roughly 1 ft. inboard from the ends (the outboard portions
of the centersection spar were found still bolted to the wings, and the
wings were both intact with control surfaces present and functioning). Duane
Swing inspected the wings and expressed some concern about the appearance of
the region connecting the torsional layups of the strake to the
centersection spar. Regardless of whether this particular layup was perfect,
it appears that the failure was due to a significant overload. The
fire/explosion/puff of white smoke was likely due to fuel being dumped out
of the right strake when the right wing came off, spraying up and across the
engine (the cowling came off with the right wing and showed no indication of
burning) and left wing as the remaining aircraft was spinning. Eventually
the fuel found an ignition source on the engine and was set off, enveloping
the left wing in flame and superficially scorching it, though it was never
'on fire'. It departed the aircraft shortly after ignition.
A roughly 1 foot right outboard section of the canard departed the aircraft
at some point, but I am not currently sure if it happened upon impact with
the ground, or in the air. In retrospect I should have inspected it more
closely, but didn't. While the fuselage was completely burned, enough
fiberglass remained to indicate that the inboard portion of the canard
remained attached.
I am striving to obtain more circumstantial weather data, radar data of the
flight, a recording of the weather briefing he received that morning, and
any radio transmissions he may have made in flight (unlikely). The NTSB will
be putting out their report in 6-12 months.
My preliminary/tentative conclusions:
VFR into IMC leading to spatial disorientation and maneuvering stressing the
airframe beyond limits.
Possible alternative scenarios:
Wind shear or severe turbulence? Incapacitation due to ...? Oxygen tank
leak/explosion (it was never found)? To my knowledge his remains were too
burned and mangled to allow for a useful autopsy.
A few words about Dad:
He was not instrument rated, but seemed cavalier about
minimums and VFR on top. He had enough IFR procedural knowledge to get
by and he had flown hard IFR plenty of times with a friend (in a different
aircraft), but not recently (as far as I know). In a conversation with my
mother the night before, he told her he had flown at 17,000' on oxygen and
encountered significant turbulence, to the point of bumping his head several
times. He had apparently found 'a hole' over Dodge City allowing him to
descend and land. I used to yell at him when he called to announce some
(clearly illegal, but more importantly, idiotic) 'feat' he had gotten away
with, but the response was always "I know, I know" or "it worked out fine".
He was also VERY tense and high-strung, prone to severe claustrophobia when
stuck in a dark space (running wires in my sister's attic) or attempting
SCUBA for the first time. I met with him the week before the accident. He
had considered flying commercially from Gold Beach, OR to Melbourne, FLA. I
never knew what his decision was until I heard the news.
James Jorgensen
Varieze N388DT
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