The passenger aboard an airplane that crashed into a Publix in DeLand last year described in court papers how he and the pilot managed to walk away from the wreckage amid fire and explosions, then stood outside looking at how badly they were burned.
The plane’s pilot Kim Presbrey, 60, an Illinois attorney, died nearly two months after the crash due to complications from third-degree burns. His passenger, Thomas Rhoades, suffered serious injuries. Three shoppers were also injured and Publix says the store sustained nearly $1 million in damages.
“I’m on the floor of the grocery store,” Rhoades said in the deposition. “We’re laying in broken glass. Smoke, fire. Reports. Concussion, were explosions, loud noises. I recall rolling — might have been, because I was on fire. I got up and could see an open door, and I headed toward that open door and then stopped and turned around and looked for Kim. Kim was behind me on the ground, on the ground of the grocery store. And I remember the fire suppression systems had been triggered so there was water running.”
Rhoades said the two walked out the back of the store, from which video footage showed a black column of smoke billowing from its roof.
“We were standing back there watching our skin melt off of our arms and legs,” Rhoades said.
Rhoades was questioned in the deposition as part of a lawsuit Publix filed against him and Presbrey’s estate. Presbrey and Rhoades were negligent by failing to properly maintain and operate the kit-built aircraft which Presbrey had bought six weeks before the crash, and neither man had received sufficient training or enough experience to fly it, the Publix lawsuit states.
Rhoades filed his own lawsuit recently against Zephyr Aircraft Engines in Zephyrhills, accusing it of negligence by botching the overhaul of the airplane’s Lycoming engine, which failed and caused the crash, the complaint states. The six-cylinder engine was powering a Piper aircraft in California in 1993 when it lost partial power during takeoff in a crash that killed two people, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The lawsuit states that Zephyr Aircraft overhauled the engine in 2001 but it did not install approved cylinders and did not comply with industry standards. The suit includes Thomas Rhoades’s wife, Lisa, as a plaintiff, saying she has lost her husband’s companionship, support and affection.
Rhoades’ attorney, Joshua Woolsey, said in a phone interview that it was a mistake to rebuild the engine.
“Zephyr decided to resurrect that engine which failed and killed two people, which we feel was irresponsible at best,” Woolsey said. “And they use that engine and they don’t resurrect it properly.”
The NTSB has not yet reached any conclusion on what caused the crash but a preliminary report said two cylinders were not approved by the manufacturer for that model engine.
Zephyr Aircraft Engines president Charles Melot denied in an interview that the company did anything wrong when it overhauled the engine and pointed to another passage in the NTSB report which said an examination of the engine after the crash “did not reveal any preimpact malfunctions.”
Melot said the cylinders may have had the wrong part numbers but they worked fine.
“The cylinders conformed to the appropriate specifications for that engine,” Melot said. “So while they bore a part number that was incorrect as noted in what you’ve read, physically, mechanically they were identical to the other four.”
Melot said it will likely turn out to be pilot error, a stall in which the plane’s wings lose lift.
“Whatever was going on, the guy failed to fly the airplane,” Melot said. “He stalled the airplane aerodynamically.”
While Rhoades’ lawsuit against Zephyr discusses mechanical topics like cylinders, Rhoades’ deposition in the Publix lawsuit against him provides insight into what happened, particularly after the plane plummeted through the roof of the supermarket about 7:20 p.m. on April 2, 2012, destroying a part of the supermarket and shutting it down for several months.
Rhoades, who was 52 at the time of the crash, said he is a commercial pilot and flies for CSA Air, an express cargo carrier in the Upper Midwest. He described Presbrey as his best friend and that they both enjoyed flying, diving and hunting. Rhoades said he had never seen Presbrey do anything unsafe while flying. He described Presbrey as a “qualified pilot.”
Presbrey had purchased his experimental, amateur built seaplane, a Seawind 3000, about six weeks earlier. They were flying from Illinois to Sanford to get some training on water landings.
Presbrey and Rhoades flew to Tennessee where they refueled. They landed at the DeLand airport after a malfunction with the plane’s transponder, which transmits a signal identifying the aircraft to air traffic controllers.
After doing some training, Rhoades and Presbrey got in the Seawind and took off with plans to fly to Daytona to repair the transponder. Trouble came soon after takeoff, Rhoades said.
“It turned crosswind. Engine stopped,” Rhoades said in the deposition.
The Publix attorney, Guy Haggard, asked him what happened next.
“My next recollection is rolling on the floor of the grocery store,” Rhoades said.
“So from the engine stopping to being inside the grocery store, you don’t remember anything in between?” Haggard said.
“No,” Rhoades said.
Rhoades said he did not remember the engine running rough, and said everything had seemed fine.
After the crash, he said he saw Presbrey on the floor.
“And I saw him rolling. And I urged him to get up and get out of there, waited until he did and the two of us exited the Publix grocery store through a rear entrance,” Rhoades said. “We were standing back there watching our skin melt off of our arms and legs, talking to one another. And it didn’t seem so bad. And then I remember turning away and my focus started narrowing down. I suspect that’s shock.”
Rhoades said a first responder arrived and put a blanket on him.
He said he and Presbrey were flown by helicopters to a hospital. Rhoades said he was sedated at the hospital and did not regain consciousness until the middle of May. He said he was never able to talk again to Presbrey, who died on May 26, 2012.
Haggard asked Rhoades what he and Presbrey were talking about as they waited for rescuers.
“Just how crispy we looked,” Rhoades said. “We were discussing our physical appearance. It wasn’t a very pretty sight.”
Haggard asked if they talked about what had just happened.
“I don’t recall any discussion regarding the accident or the airplane. It was just, wow, we’re standing here and we don’t look too good,” Rhoades said.
Source: http://www.news-journalonline.com
http://registry.faa.gov/N514KT
NTSB Identification: ERA12FA265
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, April 02, 2012 in Deland, FL
Aircraft: SAPP LARRY E SEAWIND 3000, registration: N514KT
Injuries: 3 Serious,2 Minor.
NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
HISTORY OF FLIGHT
On April 2, 2012, about 1920 eastern daylight time, an experimental amateur-built amphibious Seawind 3000, N514KT, owned and operated by a private individual, was substantially damaged when it impacted a building shortly after takeoff from the Deland Municipal Airport (DED), Deland, Florida. The private pilot owner and a commercial pilot passenger were seriously injured (The private pilot owner succumbed to his injuries on May 26, 2012). One person inside the building was seriously injured, and two other individuals inside the building sustained minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the flight that was destined for the Daytona Beach International Airport (DAB), Daytona Beach, Florida. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
According to witnesses and information obtained from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the pilot/owner and pilot-rated passenger flew from the Aurora Municipal Airport (ARR), Aurora, Illinois, to DED on April 1, 2012, with a refueling stop in Tennessee, to begin training for a seaplane rating on the morning of the accident. The training was to be conducted on a lake in Altamonte Springs, Florida, utilizing a float equipped Maule M-7-235. The owner originally intended to land in Sanford, Florida; however, he elected to land at DED after the airplane's transponder malfunctioned while en route. The purpose of the accident flight was to fly to DAB to have the transponder replaced at a maintenance facility.
Full Narrative: http://www.ntsb.gov
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