Hillam RANS S-9 N1678N

Summary

On 20 July 1997 at about 00:25 local time, a Hillam RANS S-9 registered N1678N was involved in an accident near McKinney, Texas, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

20 July 1997 at 00:25

Classification

Accident

Location

McKinney, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Aero Country Airpark (TX05)

Coordinates

33.1709, -96.7010

Aircraft

Hillam RANS S-9

Registration

N1678N

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW97FA274

1 person died.

loss of engine power for undetermined reason(s), and failure of the pilot to maintain adequate airspeed, while maneuvering for a forced landing, which resulted in a stall and collision with the terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot of a homebuilt airplane lost control of the airplane while attempting to sequence his airplane to land behind a departing ultralight vehicle following a loss of engine power. The airplane completed a high speed low pass over runway 17 followed by a 'sharp pull up' with a pronounced nose high attitude. Witnesses reported hearing the engine lose power and observing that the propeller had stopped. Another witness observed that an ultralight vehicle was on takeoff roll as the Rans was gliding northbound 'as if he was trying to sequence himself behind the ultralight on the runway.' Witnesses were 'expecting a downwind landing' to either the taxiway, or the grassy area east of the runway, but instead, the airplane continued gliding northbound on a close left downwind. As soon as the ultralight was past him, 'the Rans appeared to try to turn to get into the wind by making a 180 degree left turn in behind the ultralight;' however, 'he was so close to the runway that he had to make a very tight [steep] turn.' The airplane 'rotated 1/4 to 3/8 of a complete spin' prior to impacting the ground in a near vertical attitude. The reason for the loss of engine power could not be determined.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.