14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, October 30, 2011 in Amherst, VA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 02/06/2012
Aircraft: AEROS LTD TRIKE, registration: N6111F
Injuries: 1 Serious.
NTSB investigators used data provided by various entities, including, but not limited to, the Federal Aviation Administration and/or the operator and did not travel in support of this investigation to prepare this aircraft accident report.
The student pilot was conducting his first solo flight in the experimental light sport, weight-shift control aircraft. He reported that he lost control of the aircraft during the initial climb after takeoff. According to a witness and the pilot's flight instructor, the pilot stalled the aircraft several times while maneuvering around the traffic pattern. During a right turn onto the final leg of the traffic pattern, the aircraft entered a steep descent and impacted the ground, which resulted in substantial damage to the airframe. The pilot stated that there were no preexisting mechanical anomalies with the aircraft. He reported 16 hours of total flight experience, which included 1 hour in the same make and model as the accident aircraft.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The student pilot's inadequate aircraft control and improper airspeed while maneuvering to land, which resulted in a stall. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of experience in the make and model of the accident aircraft.
The condition of a Delaware man who crashed his experimental plane in Amherst County Sunday improved from serious to fair Monday afternoon.
Vance Phillips, 49, of Laurel, Del. injured his back in the crash, and according to public safety officials, destroyed the aircraft. Phillips was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital before being airlifted to the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville.
A hospital spokesman would not comment about Phillips’ injuries, citing privacy concerns. The Associated Press reported Phillips broke his back.
“He had a hard landing,” said Ron Dixon, who operates Buffalo Ridge Airsports near Amherst, where the plane crashed. “He bounced off the runway.”
Virginia State Police were called to the scene around 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Amherst County Public Safety Director Gary Roakes said the plane appeared to have been destroyed.
Dixon said Phillips had been getting flight lessons in Tennessee, then chose to fly at Buffalo Ridge because it was halfway between there and his home in Delaware, where he serves as a Sussex County councilman.
Dixon said Phillips had flown at the airpark before. He was practicing solo landings when he crashed, Dixon said. Buffalo Ridge offers flight training in planes like Phillips’ and in hang gliders.
Phillips’ showed off his Aeros “trike” on his Facebook page on Oct. 23, calling it his “new toy.” (The News & Advance erroneously reported Monday that the plane was a North Wing make.)
Considered experimental by the Federal Aviation Administration, the Aeros plane consists of a two-seat open cockpit and 65 horsepower engine suspended under a hang glider. When a friend on his Facebook page joked he could use it as a crop duster, he replied, “Survival is first priority.”
FAA records still show the plane registered to a Tennessee man. Dixon said Phillips hadn’t owned it long enough for the paperwork needed to change registration to be processed.
The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.
The August 2010 crash of a North Wing aircraft that took off from Buffalo Ridge remains under investigation by the NTSB pending a final report.
That crash claimed the lives of pilot John Milhous and passenger Carl Weber. Witnesses reported that plane had suffered engine trouble before the crash.
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