Sport Pilot Talk

Local news is reporting that an RV12 owned by Chesapeake Sport Pilot has crashed near the Bay Brige Airport, with a man and woman receiving fatal injuries. This is the school run by Helen, a frequent contributor here. My prayers go out to all involved.

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local ... 37591.html

Drat.

Condolences to all involved.

Helen wrote the local DC Pilots list this afternoon. No details other than to express the shock and great sadness felt by the CSP community. I am saddened as well, but I have to admit feeling relief when I saw the email from her. I've met Helen on a handful of occasions and she's not only a fine aviator, instructor and advocate for Light Sport, she's also as good a person as they get. I'm sure she's grieving as much as anyone over this tragedy.

Merlinspop wrote:Helen wrote the local DC Pilots list this afternoon.

Well, that's a bit of a relief, but little consolation to the friends and families of the deceased.

Kathryn Report has more information:

http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2016/04/v ... sport.html

I haven't seen Helen in years and just saw her at this year's Sun N Fun where she was attending the Vans RV-12 on display. It was great to see her.

Sending condolences to Helen, the Chesapeake Sport Pilot community and all.

Those on board have been identified. From the Kathryn's Report website:

"Two people killed when a small plane crashed Tuesday afternoon near the Bay Bridge Airport in Stevensville were identified by police on Wednesday. Police identified the pilot as Richard Hess, 63, and the passenger as friend Janet Metz, 56, both of Ellicott City."

Sad and sobering.

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Best to hold off on public speculation until the investigation is completed.

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designrs wrote:Best to hold off on public speculation until the investigation is completed.

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I've deleted my posts since some readers seem offended by them. The opinion appears to be that it is inappropriate to speculate about the cause of an accident until the official investigation is completed. So be it. I for one, see nothing wrong with reasonable speculation based on what evidence is available. By the time the investigative report is issued this accident will be long forgotten. At any rate, the official cause may be "undetermined", which only leaves speculation.

NTSB Identification: ERA16FA165
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Tuesday, April 19, 2016 in Stevensville, MD
Aircraft: VANS RV12, registration: N276VA
Injuries: 2 Fatal.
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 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.

On April 19, 2016 about 1244 eastern daylight time, a Vans RV-12, N276VA, registered to Yoxford Air, LLC. operated by a private individual, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain during final approach at Bay Bridge Airport (W29), Stevensville, MD. The Airline Transport pilot and his passenger were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight conducted under the provisions of Title14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.

At approximately 1210, the pilot and his passenger departed runway 29 at W29 and flew southeast for approximately 25 miles before returning to the airport 30 minutes later. Initial radar data indicated they approached the airport traffic pattern from the south at 1,000 feet and entered the traffic pattern on the left downwind leg for runway 29. After turning from base to final, several witnesses reported that the airplane looked unusually low on final approach. The nose pitched up briefly but the airplane did not did not appear to gain any altitude. The left wing appeared to rise, followed by a sharp turn to the right and steep nose down attitude before disappearing behind trees.

The airplane impacted the ground and cartwheeled for approximately 150 feet before coming to rest upright, approximately 750 feet short of runway 29 and slightly left of the extended runway centerline. A post-accident fire consumed the fuselage before it was extinguished by fire rescue personnel about 10 minutes after the accident.

According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and pilot records, the pilot held a Airline Transport Pilot Certificate with ratings for Airplane Multiengine Land, Airplane Single Engine Land, and Flight Instructor for Airplane Single Engine Land. His most recent application for a FAA first-class medical certificate was dated April 24, 2008. As of his last known medical exam, the pilot reported that he had accrued approximately 5,136 total hours of flight experience. The pilot was issued a First Class Medical Certificate which expired for all classes on April 30, 2010.

According to FAA and maintenance records, the airplane was manufactured by Van's Aircraft, Inc. in 2015. The airplane's most recent 100 hour inspection was completed on March 16, 2016. At the time of the inspection, the airplane had accrued 298.6 total hours of operation. The airplane was equipped with a Rotax 912-ULS-2 engine.

The wreckage was retained by the NTSB for further examination.

Nomore767 wrote: The pilot held a Airline Transport Pilot Certificate with ratings for Airplane Multiengine Land, Airplane Single Engine Land, and Flight Instructor for Airplane Single Engine Land. His most recent application for a FAA first-class medical certificate was dated April 24, 2008. As of his last known medical exam, the pilot reported that he had accrued approximately 5,136 total hours of flight experience.

That's a lot of skill and experience. As a pilot in training, this is the part I hate about aviation. If a guy with that much experience can get bit, what does that say about us greenhorns?