Thursday, March 29, 2012

Walling Vans RV-3, N34WC: Accident occurred March 28, 2012 in Larchwood, Iowa

http://registry.faa.gov/N34WC

http://www.avclaims.com/N34WC.html

NTSB Identification: CEN12LA209 
 14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Wednesday, March 28, 2012 in Larchwood, IA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 10/15/2012
Aircraft: Walling Vans RV-3, registration: N34WC
Injuries: 1 Fatal.

NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

After landing, the airplane veered off the right side of the runway into an adjacent corn field, where it nosed over and came to rest inverted. The canopy and vertical stabilizer were crushed. A toxicology screen revealed the presence of fluoxetine (Prozac, an antidepressant); norfluoxetine (a metabolite of fluoxetine); and trazodone (a tranquilizer). These drugs carry the warning that they may impair mental and/or physical ability required for the performance of potentially hazardous tasks and are contraindicated for flight. On his most recent application for medical certification, the pilot did not report taking these medications. Although the presence of these medications and the conditions for which they were prescribed posed an increased hazard to flight safety, it could not be determined if the pilot was experiencing any side effects from the medications at the time of the accident. Postaccident examination revealed no evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control of the airplane after landing.

On March 28, 2012, about 1230 central daylight time, a Walling Vans RV-3, N34WC, collided with terrain shortly after landing on runway 30 at Zangger Vintage Airport (K2VA), Larchwood, Iowa. The private pilot, the sole occupant on board, was fatally injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan had been filed. The local flight had originated from Marv Skie-Lincoln County Airport (KY14), Tea, South Dakota, about 1115.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector who went to the site, the pilot had landed on runway 30, and the airplane went off the right side of the runway into an adjacent corn field. The airplane's main landing gear became mired in soft earth and the airplane nosed over, coming to rest inverted. The canopy and vertical stabilizer were crushed. The pilot was strapped securely in his seat via a five-point restraint system.

The pilot was a 57-year-old physician. He held a third class airman medical certificate, dated February 27, 2012, with no restrictions or limitations. On his application for medical certification, he did not report taking fluoxetine or trazodone.

A toxicology screen performed by FAA’s Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) indicated 1.509 (ug/mL, ug/g) fluoxetine (Prozac) and 0.866 (ug/mL, ug/g) norfluoxetine were detected in Illiac blood. Fluoxetine and norfluoxetine were also detected in urine. In addition, Trazodone was detected in both Illiac blood and urine. According to CAMI's reference material, Fluoxetine is a prescription antidepressant and is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). Its active metabolite is norfluoxetine. The FAA may issue a special issuance of a medical certificate for pilots on this medication after a thorough evaluation and ongoing close follow-up of the condition. Trazodone is a prescription antidepressant that selectively inhibits serotonin uptake. It is contradicted for flying. According to the CAMI's reference material, all reported substances carry the warning: "May impair mental and/or physical ability required for the performance of potentially hazardous tasks (e.g., driving, operating heavy machinery)."

According to previous medical certificate applications, the pilot did report a history of anxiety and situational depression while he was in medical school (1994), and he was treated for 12 months with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). The condition was eventually resolved and the pilot was found eligible for medical certification in 1997.







This home-built airplane crashed Wednesday near Larchwood, Iowa, killing its pilot.


Employees at the Dr. Robert Akins Sinus Specialty Clinics in Sioux Falls have confirmed the company's namesake was killed in a plane crash.

Authorities say 57-year-old Robert Akins was killed in a plane crash at the Larchwood Airport in Iowa.

Authorities received a call Wednesday just after 1 p.m. about a plane crash at the Zangger Airport. The crash happened as Akins attempted to land a single-seat plane and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The FAA will be on site to conduct an investigation.

At this time, colleagues are not commenting.

According to his company's website, Dr. Akins attended the University of Arkansas where he received his medical degree. His residency training in Otolaryngology was received at Duke University. For over 20 years, Dr. Akins has specialized in treating people with sinus problems only.

A Sioux Falls pilot was killed Wednesday while trying to land at an airport east of Larchwood, Iowa.

A 911 call reporting the crash came in at 1:10 p.m., Lyon County Sheriff Blythe Bloemendaal said.

The pilot, whose name has not been released pending family notification, was trying to gain control of the aircraft after it touched down on the grass airstrip at Zangger Vintage Airpark.

“The plane did flip over,” Bloemendaal said.

The yellow single-seat airplane came to rest in a cornfield next to the airstrip and had to be flipped back on its wheels before paramedics could remove the pilot, who was dead on the scene.

The Federal Aviation Administration will arrive in Larchwood today to investigate the crash, Bloemendaal said.

Russell Zanggar, the 90-year-old former flight instructor who owns the farm on which the airstrip sits, received a call from his son about the wreck.
His son was in Rapid City on Wednesday afternoon but got a tip about a plane in the field near his Larchwood home.

“He told me, ‘Why don’t you get on your golf cart and see what that airplane’s doing out there on its back?’ ” said Zanggar, who was watching television in his house when the fixed wing single-engine craft crashed.

By the time Zangaar got there, the plane had been flipped and the pilot was gone from the scene, but he was able to track the wheel marks the landing left in the grass to the spot less than 100 yards away where the plane came to rest.

Zanggar wasn’t expecting any plane to land there Wednesday. The aircraft is registered with the FAA as a home-built experimental plane, built in 1991. It was hangared at Marv Skie Airport in Tea, according to Ronald Keenihan of the South Dakota Pilot’s Association.

“I know the aircraft,” Keenihan said.

There are about 100 planes hangared at the airport, said Kurt Anderson, an employee of the fixed-based operator, Quest Aviation.

There is a radio line in the lounge area that the pilot could have called for help, but Anderson hadn’t heard about any distress calls. The radio is not monitored, he said.

“It’s not like there’s an air traffic controller down here,” Anderson said. “Anybody could have heard it.”

Keenihan said that until the FAA conducts its investigation, there’s no way of knowing what went wrong in the air over Iowa.

“Flying can be dangerous. So can driving a car. It’s rare enough with airplanes that it always gets a lot of attention from the media,” he said.
“Unfortunately, there’s only one person who knows what happened, and he’s no longer with us.”