Fourth Fatal Accident Involving Type In Three Months
A Florida doctor was the sole casualty in the takeoff crash
Monday of a homebuilt Lancair IV-P... the fourth fatal accident
involving the popular single-engine aircraft type in three
months.
Dr. Douglas Pohl's plane went down in takeoff from the North
Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines, FL Monday night. A witness told
WPTV-5 the plane climbed about 50 feet in the air, before it rolled
left and impacted the ground.
Officials haven't determined any possible causes for the
accident. Pohl also owned Silver Wings Aviation, a fixed-base
operation located at Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport in
Maine.
The Lancair IV-P (type shown below) is an extremely
popular, high-performance aircraft, available with
either reciprocating engine or turboprop
"PropJet" powerplant configurations. Pohl built his
V-8-powered Lancair IV-P in 2000.
Larry Cappolino, a mechanic at Tailwinds Airpark -- Pohl's home
airport -- told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel the plane was
powered by a Corvette V-8 adapted for aviation use, and he had
consulted with Cappolino a couple months ago about a fuel-delivery
problem.
Pohl experienced an inflight engine failure in the accident
aircraft in July 2001, during a trip to Oshkosh.
The NTSB determined the cause of that failure
-- which resulted in an off-field landing -- was paper towels left
on top of the converted V-8 powerplant, remnants of which had been
sucked into the engine's turbocharger.
Over 200 Lancair IV-Ps are registered with the FAA, according to
a search of the agency's online database. The type has been
involved in three other fatal accidents since April, claiming six
people.
One of those accidents, on April 23, involved a Lancair IV-P
that experienced a loss of control during takeoff. As ANN reported, the plane
impacted into a orange grove near Falcon Field Airport (FFZ) in
Mesa, AZ, killing the three persons onboard.
David Bjellos, described as an "aviation expert" with WPTV-5,
cautioned people not to jump to conclusions about the safety of the
Lancair IV-P, or other homebuilt planes.
"Probably the most important thing is to separate 'experimental'
from 'dangerous,'" he said. "They belong in two separate
paragraphs."
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 488SD
Make/Model: EXP Description:
LANCAIR IV-P
Date: 07/07/2008 Time: 2155
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury:
Fatal Mid Air: N Missing:
N
Damage: Destroyed
LOCATION
City: PEMBROKE
PINES
State: FL Country: US
DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT ON CLIMBOUT, VEERED AND CRASHED OFF THE DEPARTURE
END OF THE
RUNWAY, THE ONE PERSON ON BOARD WAS FATALLY INJURED,
PEMBROKE PINES, FL
INJURY DATA Total
Fatal: 1
# Crew: 1 Fat:
1 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat:
0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
# Grnd:
Fat: 0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
WEATHER: CLEAR 10SM 090/10 A3007
OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase:
Climb Operation: OTHER
FAA FSDO: SOUTH FLORIDA, FL
(SO19)
Entry date: 07/08/2008
Unfortunate... ANN/SportPlane Resource Guide Adds To Cautionary Advisories
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