National Transportation Safety Board - Docket And Docket Items: http://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms
National Transportation Safety Board - Aviation Accident Data Summary: http://app.ntsb.gov/pdf
NTSB Identification: ERA13LA254
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, May 26, 2013 in Naples, FL
Probable Cause Approval Date: 04/23/2014
Aircraft: FLEMING ELDRIDGE E SONEX, registration:
Injuries: 1 Serious.
NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
About 5 minutes after takeoff and at a cruise altitude of 2,000 feet above ground level, the engine lost oil pressure and partial power. The pilot was unable to maintain the airplane’s altitude and flew toward a golf course to conduct a forced landing. During short final approach, he turned the airplane left to better align it with a fairway, but the airplane stalled and impacted a canal. The airplane was equipped with a noncertificated, modified automobile engine. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any cracks in the engine case, oil residue in the engine compartment, or any abnormalities that would have accounted for the sudden loss of oil pressure and partial engine power.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The pilot’s failure to maintain airspeed during a forced landing, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall. Contributing to the accident was a partial loss of the noncertificated engine’s power for reasons that could not be determined because examination of the engine did not reveal any mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
On May 26, 2013, about 1130 eastern daylight time, an experimental, amateur-built Sonex, N634SX, operated by a private individual, sustained substantial damage when it impacted a canal, following a partial loss of engine power during cruise flight near Naples, Florida. The private pilot was seriously injured. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight that departed Naples Municipal Airport (APF), Naples, Florida, about 1125. No flight plan was filed for the planned flight to Immokalee Regional Airport (IMM), Immokalee, Florida.
The pilot reported that the airplane was built in 2004 and he purchased it on March 3, 2011. Prior to the accident flight, the airplane had not flown for approximately 2 years while he refurbished it. It received an annual condition inspection on April 20, 2013. The pilot then operated the airplane for about 3 hours on the ground, conducting taxi tests and making minor adjustments to the airframe and engine. During the accident flight, he departed runway 5 at APF and flew east toward IMM. About 5 minutes after takeoff, at 2,000 feet mean sea level, then engine lost oil pressure, partial power, and began to vibrate. The pilot initially flew toward Marco Island Airport (MKY), Marco Island, Florida; however, the airplane was losing altitude and he did not think the airplane would make it to that airport. He then flew toward a golf course. During short final approach, he turned left to better align the airplane with a fairway, but the airplane stalled and impacted a canal prior to the golf course. The pilot added that the propeller continued to rotate until impact.
The airplane was equipped with an Aerovee 2180, 80-horsepower, fuel-injected engine, which was a modified Volkswagen engine. At the time of its most recent annual condition inspection, the airplane and engine had accumulated about 34 total hours of operation. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector reported that the accident site was about 1.25 miles from MKY. The wreckage was recovered from the canal about 3 days after the accident. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any cracks in the engine case or oil residue in the engine compartment. With the exception of a disconnected oil breather tube, the FAA inspector did not observe any preimpact anomalies. The pilot added that the oil breather tube was "flimsy" and most likely separated during impact. He further stated that there was no evidence of an oil leak in the air or on the ground. He was also near the canal for 45 minutes after the accident and did not observe any fuel or oil sheen on the water. The pilot did not know why the engine lost oil pressure and power.
http://www.sonexaircraft.com/news/image
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http://registry.faa.gov/N634SX
NTSB Identification: ERA13LA254
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, May 26, 2013 in Marco Island, FL
Aircraft: FLEMING ELDRIDGE E SONEX, registration: N634SX
Injuries: 1 Serious.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On May 26, 2013, about 1135 eastern daylight time, an experimental, amateur-built Sonex, N634SX, operated by a private individual, sustained substantial damage when it impacted a canal, following a partial loss of engine power during cruise flight near Marco Island, Florida. The private pilot was seriously injured. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight that departed Marco Island Airport (MKY), Marco Island, Florida, about 1130. A visual flight rules flight plan was filed for the planned flight to Immokalee Regional Airport (IMM), Immokalee, Florida.
The pilot reported that the airplane was built in 2004 and he purchased it on March 3, 2013. It was equipped with an Aerovee 2180, 80-horsepower, fuel-injected engine, which was a modified Volkswagen engine. A condition inspection was completed on the airplane on April 15, 2013. At that time, the airplane had accumulated about 34 total hours of operation and had flown about 3 hours since that inspection.
During the accident flight, the airplane departed on runway 35 at MKY and climbed to a cruising altitude of 2,000 feet. About 5 minutes after departure, the engine began to lose oil pressure and subsequently lost partial power. The pilot attempted to land on a golf course; however, when turning to align with a fairway, the airplane stalled and impacted a canal adjacent to the course.
A Federal Aviation Administration inspector reported that the accident site was about 1 1/4 mile from the departure end of runway 35. Further examination of the engine was planned following the airplane's recovery from the canal.
David Rynders - SONEX (N634SX)
Now, federal investigators are hoping to get a better idea what caused the crash.
Divers located the plane about 15-feet underwater in Fiddler's Creek.
Battling Wednesday's rain, the divers used floats to lift the 650-pound home-built plane to the surface.
It crashed into the creek Sunday. That's when David Rynders says he was taking a two-seater plane he had just finished rebuilding for a test flight.
The plane began losing oil pressure five minutes after taking off from the Naples Airport.
Rynders says the plane stalled and took a nose dive into Fiddler's Creek.
He was able to swim to shore and remains in the hospital with fractured bones in his lower back.
Once on the surface, the crash recovery team floated it down the creek to an area where they lifted it out.
They will then disassemble it and take to Broward County where the FAA and NTSB investigators will examine it.
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COLLIER COUNTY - For the first time, we heard from the pilot who crashed into a Collier County creek during a test flight.
David Rynders is still in the hospital recovering from injuries he suffered when his plane lost oil pressure. He crashed into Fiddler's Creek over the weekend.
A two-seater Sonex airplane was Rynders' hobby for the last nine months. The 68-year-old spent nearly every day rebuilding the homemade craft before flying it Sunday morning.
"This was its first flight test and I think we would all agree it was a failure," he said Tuesday.
From his hospital bed, Rynders said he had just taken off from the Naples Airport.
"I noticed I was losing oil pressure and quickly began losing cylinders," he remembered.
He says his plane began to lose power less than five minutes in.
"What went through my mind when I lost power was to try to keep control of the aircraft and try to land it in a place where it didn't do damage to anyone else," Rynders said.
He says he tried to make it to the airport on Marco Island, but came up a mile short.
Losing power fast, he set his sights on Fiddler's Creek Golf Course.
Only 75 feet in the air, Rynders says his plane stalled - going nose down in this narrow section of Fiddler's Creek.
"I remember looking straight at that wall of water in front of me and if that had been rock there's no way I would have survived any of it," he described.
Rynders freed himself from the plane - swimming to the surface and then shore.
In the hospital with fractured bones in his lower back, Rynders' sense of humor is still in tact.
"I think The Lord is suggesting I get out of the airplane building business," he said.
And as for whether he'll fly again, he said, "I need to do some reflection on that subject."
Rynders is expected to remain in the hospital for about another week.
Representatives with the FAA and NTSB say it's up to h
Story, Video, Photo: http://www.nbc-2.com
NAPLES, Fla - A Naples man talks to WINK News about the explosive impact when his plane plunged into a Collier County lake.
Sunday, 68-year-old David Rynders took his small experimental plane for a test flight when everything went wrong.
Rynders is still recovering at NCH downtown. He tells WINK News he has three internal fractures in his back and while he's in a lot of pain, he's thankful the outcome wasn't worse.
Rynders has had his pilot's license since 1968 flying mostly single engine planes, but he spent the last nine months working on an experimental plane.
"I was on the very first flight and it failed," says Rynders, talking to WINK News from his hospital bed. Rynders was 2,000 feet in the air when he noticed he didn't have oil pressure. "You know you're going down, you just have to pick the place."
Unable to communicate with the tower, he tried to land at the Marco Island Airport but came up a mile and a half short.
"I went nose, straight down vertically into Fiddler's Creek," says Rynders. "I hit he water and the canopy splitting open made for an explosive impact."
Rynders stayed conscious the entire time. As the plane quickly filled with water, he knew he had to get out. "I've been a scuba diver since the 1960's so being underwater is not an uncomfortable, unfamiliar experience for me. I got the seatbelt loose and pulled the shoulder straps off and pulled myself out of the plane which by that time was going inverted, upside down," says Rynders.
The Naples pilot will be in the hospital for at least another week. "My backbone and my rear end feel like I've been paddled for a week by every fraternity brother in the state," says Rynders.
As for flying again, he says it's a decision he hasn't made just yet. "I might just decide the Lord is giving me a message here."
Rynders is working with the insurance company to get the plane removed from the water.
Watch Video: http://www.winknews.com
COLLIER COUNTY - Eyewitnesses looked on in horror as a small plane fell from the sky near a Collier County golf community Sunday morning.
It landed in a creek where the plane remained one day later.
The pilot swam to safety.
David Rynders, 68, was the only person on board.
He was still at a local hospital with serious injuries Monday afternoon.
But he is expected to survive, which amazes witnesses who saw the plane go down.
Joe Schmitt was just wrapping up a round of golf at Fiddler's Creek on Sunday morning.
He spotted something unusual from the eighteenth hole.
"As the plane was flying it just banked and turned and then just went straight down. Never heard a crash, never heard a sputter," he said.
Not realizing someone was on board, Schmitt watched as the plane took a nose dive and went out of sight.
"I actually climbed the bank to look and didn't see anything, so I didn't think anything more of it. I thought it was a model airplane," he said.
It was actually an experimental, home made aircraft.
The plane landed in a narrow section of Fiddler's Creek near homes at the back of the golf course driving range.
Now submerged, the wreckage can't be seen from the shore.
"There was no power. It didn't even sound like the engine was running," Schmitt said.
Investigators said Rynders was five minutes into a flight from Naples to Immokalee when his plane lost oil pressure.
He tried to make an emergency landing at Marco Island airport before he crashed into the creek a mile away.
"Not something you expect to see on a golf course, maybe a few birdies, but not an airplane going down," said Fiddler's Creek Manager Ron Albeit.
Witnesses said Rynder managed to escape and swam to shore until help arrived.
The plane sank, and remained under fifteen feet of water.
"Yesterday after the FAA was here and inspected things, there wasn't any leakage of fluids and there wasn't environmental concerns," said albeit.
Meanwhile Schmitt says it's fortunate Rynders crashed into the water instead of the nearby golf course.
"I'm amazed he survived. I'm amazed he got out," he said.
Fiddler's Creek is now waiting for the pilot's insurance company to remove the plane from the water.
Story and Video: http://www.abc-7.com
COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. - A pilot is in the hospital after crashing his small plane into a canal near the Naples Golf Course. Wink News spoke with the first responders who say they were amazed the pilot escaped the crash alive.
The Collier County Sheriff's Office says 68-year-old David Rynders took off from the Naples Airport on his way to Immokalee, but quickly noticed something wasn't right.
Rynders took off from the Naples Municipal Airport just after 11:30 a.m. Sunday. Shortly after take-off the plane lost oil pressure, which caused the engine to fail..
"Our crew did a great job of picking up that this was a potential serious problem. They responded quickly and were able to locate the aircraft and the victim in a very short period of time," said Walter Kopka with Collier County EMS.
According to CCSO, the pilot attempted to land his single-engine Sonex plane at the Marco Island Airport but realised he would not make the landing.
He then tried to set his plane down on the golf course near Fiddler's Creek, but ended up in the water.
"Someone heard a splash in the water, I immediately notified the pilot and we self-dispatched and then went out to the general area," said Collier County EMS Battalion Chief, Bruce Gastineau.
Collier County EMS responded with their helicopter, starting their search near the Marco Island Airport and then flying search patterns towards the Northwest.
"As we were flying around, we were looking in canals. I noticed from a dark murky canal a different color and I said, 'Hey I found the plane!'" said Gastineau.
"We didn't see the pilot when we circled, so I assumed the worst since it is very hard to get out of an aircraft under water," said Chief Pilot, Walter Wieser.
Support crews from several area agencies responded to the crash site and spotted the pilot swimming toward the shore.
"It's incredible. He made it out of the aircraft, stayed afloat and seemed in fairly stable condition," said Wieser.
Emergency responders transported the pilot to a nearby hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Watch Video: http://www.winknews.com
A Collier County man was seriously injured Sunday when his plane crashed in the Fiddler’s Creek community.
Officials said David Rynders, 68, flew out of the Naples Municipal Airport, heading to the Immokalee Regional Airport, when his Sonex plane began to lose oil pressure.
Because of the loss of oil pressure, the engine could not sustain power, and Rynders attempted to make an emergency landing at the Marco Island Executive Airport, said Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Kristi Lester. When he realized that was not feasible, he attempted an emergency landing at the Fiddler’s Creek golf course around 11:30 a.m.
The plane then crashed into a canal near the golf course and became fully submerged, Lester said. Rynders was able to get out of the plane, and he was flown to NCH Downtown Naples Hospital to be treated for serious but not life-threatening injuries.
The Sonex aircraft was not physically damaged and will be removed from the water by Rynders’ insurance company within the next few days, Lester said.
http://www.naplesnews.com
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