Saturday, April 28, 2012

Rans S-12 Airaile, N586BN: Accident occurred April 03, 2012 in Mesa, Arizona

NTSB Identification: WPR12LA152 
 14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Tuesday, April 03, 2012 in Mesa, AZ
Probable Cause Approval Date: 06/12/2013
Aircraft: NELSON RANS S-12, registration: N586BN
Injuries: 2 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.

Witnesses reported that shortly after takeoff, the airplane was about 200 to 300 feet above the ground when it made a sudden right turn and banked about 90 degrees. Some witnesses reported that they heard a reduction in engine power just before the right turn followed by an increase in engine power. During the turn, the airplane appeared to stall and enter a spin. The airplane impacted terrain and a fire ensued. Postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions 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 airplane control while maneuvering at low altitude shortly after takeoff.

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On April 3, 2012, about 0742 mountain standard time, a Nelson Rans S-12, N586BN, impacted terrain shortly after takeoff from Falcon Field Airport (FFZ)Mesa, Arizona. The commercial pilot and the passenger/owner were fatally injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was registered to the passenger and operated by the pilot. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight.

Witnesses reported that shortly after the airplane took off, when it was about 200-300 feet above ground level, the airplane made a sudden right turn of about 90 degrees. Some witnesses reported that there was a reduction in engine power just prior to the right turn and an increase in engine power during the turn. Witnesses reported that while in the turn, the airplane appeared to stall and start to spin; one witness reported that it appeared as if the pilot started to regain control just prior to impacting terrain.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

At the time of the accident, the pilot, age 23, held a commercial pilot certificate with airplane single- and multi- engine land and instrument ratings. His most recent certificate was issued on March 22, 2012. His most recent Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) second-class medical certificate was issued on May 11, 2011 with the restriction that he must wear corrective lenses. The pilot had accumulated about 734 hours of flight experience, 121 of which were in the accident airplane. The pilot had been flying the accident airplane since July of 2010.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

The airplane was an amateur built experimental Nelson Rans S-12, serial number 119147, which was privately built in 2007. The airplane was equipped with a Rotax 912 ULS 100 horsepower engine in the pusher configuration. The airframe and engine maintenance logbooks were not located.

During a postaccident telephone conversation, the builder of the airplane reported that when he built the airplane, the fuel system consisted of four fuel tanks, two outboard auxiliary fuel tanks and two inboard main fuel tanks. The fuel selector valve, which consisted of four positions: ‘main’, ‘aux’, ‘both’, ‘off’, was located between the pilot and passenger seats. The builder reported that with the configuration of the fuel system, it is possible that, if the fuel selector valve was in the ‘off’ position, the airplane would have enough residual fuel within the system to operate the airplane normally until about initial climb.

METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION

At 0747, the weather reporting station located at FFZ reported wind 030 degrees at 5 knots, 40 statute miles of visibility, clear skies, temperature 13 degrees Celsius (C), dewpoint -9 degrees C, and an altimeter setting of 29.98 inches of mercury. The accident airport elevation was 1,394 feet. Based on the recorded weather data, the corresponding density altitude was about 1,432 feet.

According to the FAA carburetor icing probability chart, with the recorded temperature and dew point, the airplane was unlikely to experience carburetor icing at climb, cruise, and glide power.

WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION

An on-scene examination conducted by representatives from the FAA revealed that the airplane impacted the ground in a nose low attitude and started to burn. All three propeller blades were still attached at the hub, however, the blades were separated about 6 inches outboard of the hub. One of the propeller blades was located in an earthen wall located next to the main wreckage, and two of the blades were found about 250 feet from the main wreckage. All main components of the airplane were present, and control continuity was established throughout. The parachute was deployed, but resting unopened directly behind the main wreckage. The parachute T-handle was located and the pin to secure the handle was still in place. The end of the cable from the T-handle to the igniter was broomstrawed. The smell of automotive gasoline was noted underneath the airplane, most notably underneath the carburetors; fuel was found in one of the carburetor bowls. The fuel selector valve was unable to be positively identified. The engine was rotated by hand and rotated through all four compression strokes; during the rotation, the engine felt “gritty” on the inside.

MEDICAL AND PATHALOGICAL INFORMATION

The Maricopa County Medical Examiner completed autopsies on the pilot and passenger; cause of death was reported as blunt force injuries.

The FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) conducted forensic toxicology examinations on specimens from the pilot, and reported that no ethanol or any screened drugs were detected. Testing for carbon monoxide and cyanide were not completed.

TESTS AND RESEARCH

During a postaccident examination of the airframe and engine, control continuity was established throughout. The flap handle was identified loose within the wreckage; the flap position was unable to be determined. The fuel selector valve was not found. The instrument panel sustained impact and fire damage; the turn coordinator showed a turn to the right.

The engine was examined and the exhaust system was mounted on top of the engine close to a fuel line, fuel system transducer, coolant, and ignition systems. Fire damage was noted to the magneto side (forward side, opposite of the propeller) of the engine. The top spark plugs were removed and identified as having appropriate gapping determined by the engine manufacturer. The valve covers were removed and oil was present within the system. The engine was rotated via the propeller; all valves produced the same amount of lift and thumb compression was obtained on all cylinders. The engine was borescoped and no anomalies were noted. The water pump and oil pump were removed and no anomalies were noted. The fuel pump was removed and functioned normally when activated by hand, no fuel was present.

There was no evidence of preimpact anomalies that would have resulted in a loss of engine power. Due to damage, continuity of the fuel and ignition systems could not be ascertained.



Mike Hazel knew he was fortunate to be alive and wanted to thank God for sparing him by helping otherwise hopeless inmates.

He cooked up an idea to bake 120 dozen cookies for prisoners at the Eloy facility where he volunteers in a prison ministry. Earlier this month, he told his friend Neal Greff, who is also in the Bible-study program, about his idea.

“I don’t know why God has given me so many extra days to live, but I appreciate it,” Hazel, 56, said at the time.

His “extra days” came after a grim prognosis last year when his doctors told him he had virtually no chance to survive leukemia, pulmonary embolisms, kidney and liver failure, and a stroke. The ailments landed Hazel in intensive-care units for five months.

But Hazel’s time ran out the day after he and Greff spoke. On April 3, Hazel and Davis Vaughan, 23, a close family friend described as like a son to Hazel, were killed when their small plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Falcon Field Airport in northeast Mesa.

When Hazel’s widow, Deborah, heard about his unfulfilled cookie dream, she knew she had to do everything possible to memorialize her husband’s life by completing his mission.

“Mike was a very caring, giving person,” Deborah Hazel said. “He loved to cook and to bake. It’s part of me sharing his memory and honoring him.”

On Friday, the Hazel, Vaughan and Greff families worked with other volunteers to make more than 1,400 chocolate-chip and oatmeal cookies for prisoners at the Red Rock Correctional Facility in Eloy. The cookies will be delivered Thursday to the prison.

The Hazel cookies were baked in the kitchens of Central Christian Church in Mesa. Other churches from various Christian denominations also will be baking cookies as part of Kairos Weekend, an event sponsored by an ecumenical Christian prison-ministry program.

Larry Vaughan, Mike Hazel’s best friend and Davis Vaughan’s father, said Hazel experienced a religious awakening the night before doctors put him into a medically induced coma during his treatment.

Before his illness, Mike Hazel had not been a religious person, but he regularly participated in Bible study, church services and the prison ministry during his recovery, Vaughan said.

“He truly saw every day from God as an extra gift,” Vaughan said. “It was important to him that he was giving hope to someone who had no hope.”

Deborah Hazel said the cookie-baking project will bring back fond memories of her husband. Mike Hazel was the chef at their home and she was his helper.

Hazel, a retired lieutenant commander in the U.S. Coast Guard who had a second career as an engineer, would cook Deborah dinner every night and make her a special chocolate cake every year for her birthday.

“We did everything together,” Deborah Hazel said. “We were best friends.”

It was fitting that Mike and Deborah decided together to take up flying. They bought a single-engine plane, a Rans S-12, in May 2010, but their plans got sidetracked by Hazel’s illness.

But Davis Vaughan, a certified pilot who had graduated in December from Arizona State University with an aeronautics degree, would take Hazel flying as a relief from chemotherapy after his release from the hospital.

Deborah said the prison ministry and going flying with Vaughan were her husband’s two passions in life as he continued his recovery.

Deborah finds solace in knowing that her husband died doing something he loved.

“He lived every day like it was his last,” she said. “I knew he was at peace. If he was going to die, this is the way he wanted to go. I’m at peace with it; so is he.”