Lipscomb LANCAIR 235 N777KL

Summary

On 28 December 2002 at about 22:10 local time, a Lipscomb LANCAIR 235 registered N777KL was involved in an accident near Payson, Arizona, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

28 December 2002 at 22:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Payson, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Payson (PAN)

Coordinates

34.2614, -111.3433

Aircraft

Lipscomb LANCAIR 235

Registration

N777KL

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Payson → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX03LA055

1 person died.

the pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed during an aborted landing that resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin. A contributing factor in the accident was the pilot's lack of familiarity with the airplane.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane stalled during an aborted landing, entered a spin, and impacted the ground. Multiple pilot witnesses stated that the airplane made two approaches that culminated in go-arounds. On the third approach, the airplane landed hard about 1,500 feet down the runway. The airplane bounced into the air, landed back on the runway, bounced up once more, and then they heard the engine power up to abort the landing. The airplane climbed to about 100 feet and the witnesses saw the airplane's nose pitch up and the angle of attack continue to increase as the airplane flew down the runway at a slow airspeed. The left wing dropped, the airplane rotated into a spin, and then it impacted the ground. An inspection of the airplane revealed no mechanical anomalies. The pilot purchased the accident airplane 2 days prior to the accident. A review of the pilot's medical application indicated that he had not flown in the last 6 months. A review of his logbooks revealed that the pilot had no flight time in the accident airplane make and model. The broker who sold him the airplane, asked the pilot to fly with someone that was familiar with the accident airplane make and model before flying it solo. The day of the accident, the pilot informed the broker that he wanted to taxi test it. On the second high-speed taxi test, the airplane became airborne. The broker attempted to contact the pilot after the airplane departed the airport environment. The airplane returned about an hour later, and flew two circuits around the airport below traffic pattern altitude. It was on the third approach that the airplane landed hard, bounced into the air, and climbed to an altitude of about 150 feet in a wings level attitude, before the pilot lost control of it.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.