Painesville, OH, USA
N953RJ
FLIGHTSTAR SC II
The student pilot reported that he and his wife owned the accident airplane and had made multiple practice taxi runs on the runway with no intention for flight. During one of the taxi runs, the airplane unexpectedly became airborne. The student determined that there was not enough runway remaining to perform a safe landing, so he chose to continue the takeoff. Once the airplane reached about 100 ft above ground level, it would no longer climb, and he attempted to land in a field; however, the airplane struck trees before reaching the intended field. Before the accident, the student had performed maintenance on the airplane, which included replacing the propeller. He had intended to have a certificated mechanic check his work but had not done so before the accident because there was no intention for flight. He acknowledged that he may not have set the propeller pitch correctly, which could have negatively affected the airplane's performance. In addition, the atmospheric conditions were favorable for moderate icing at cruise power settings and serious icing at descent power settings. Carburetor icing likely accumulated during the multiple taxi runs performed before the unintentional flight. Based on the available information, the airplane inadvertently became airborne because the student allowed it to accelerate to flight speed. The available engine power was likely reduced due to an improper propeller pitch setting and carburetor icing, and both these conditions likely resulted in the airplane's inability to continue to climb.
On July 27, 2018, about 1645 eastern daylight time, a Flightstar SC II, N953RJ, sustained substantial damage when it impacted terrain during approach to land on runway 2 at the Concord Airpark (2G1), near Painesville, OH. The student pilot received serious injuries and his passenger received minor injuries. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which was not on a flight plan. The local flight was originating at the time of the accident.The pilot reported that he had purchased the airplane a few months prior to the accident and had performed some repairs in the interim, including replacing a broken propeller. He said that he planned to have the repairs inspected by a certificated mechanic and the airplane had not been flown since its purchase. On the day of the accident, the pilot and his spouse were performing taxi practice with no intention for flight. He said that they were taking turns with the controls. He said that on one of his turns he must have gone too fast and the airplane unexpectedly became airborne. When this happened, the airplane was already 3/4 of the way down the runway and he didn't think there was enough room to land on the remaining runway, so he elected to "go around". The pilot was unable to maintain altitude and maneuvered the airplane to land but struck trees during the attempted landing. In his report the pilot indicated that there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions of the airplane. In a telephone conversation the pilot reported that he had set the propeller blade pitch angles based on information from the airplane maintenance records using a digital protractor. He acknowledged that his method of setting the propeller blade angles could have been slightly off. He had intended to have a certified mechanic check his work but that had not been done since he had not intended to fly the airplane when the accident occurred. The weather conditions at the Willoughby Lost Nation Municipal Airport, Willoughby, Ohio, about the time of the accident included a temperature of 23° C, a dew point of 12° C, and an altimeter setting of 29.98 inches of mercury. The carburetor icing susceptibility at these readings is moderate icing at cruise power settings, and serious icing at descent power settings. The calculated density altitude was 2,273 ft.
The student pilot’s failure to maintain an airspeed below flight speed during a practice taxi run, which resulted in the airplane inadvertently becoming airborne. Once airborne, the reduced engine power due to an improper propeller pitch setting and carburetor icing degraded the airplane’s performance and prevented the airplane from being able to continue to climb.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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