NTSB Identification: NYC05LA096
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, June 12, 2005 in Gloucester,
VA
Aircraft: Hall Maxair Drifter, registration: N9238V
Injuries: 1 Fatal.
On June 12, 2005, at 1930 eastern daylight time, a
homebuilt Maxair Drifter, N9238V, was substantially
damaged when it impacted terrain in Gloucester,
Virginia. The certificated private pilot received fatal
injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and
no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight
conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to witnesses, the pilot left a picnic he was
attending because he "needed to take pictures." The
pilot stated he was "going to get his airplane" and
shortly after the witnesses saw the airplane pass
overhead at an altitude of about 200 feet. Several
seconds later, the witnesses observed the tail section
of the airplane "wobble, and then break off." The
airplane then pitched nose down and impacted the ground.
Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) inspector revealed that the
airplane landed inverted in a nose low attitude. The
empennage was separated from the fuselage at the tail
boom attachment point; however, control cables remained
attached. Both wings remained attached to the fuselage;
however, cable supports were separated at the fuselage
attach points. Corrosion was observed on the tail boom
attachment points, as well as numerous other critical
areas of the aircraft.
The aircraft was also equipped with floats, and was
often operated in a salt-water environment.
Examination of the pilot's logbook revealed the most
recent entry was for a flight on May 26, 2004. At that
time, he had accumulated approximately 1,000 hours of
total flight experience. |
The experimental aircraft plunged into a local marsh, killing the pilot.
BY MATT SABO
(804) 642-1748
Published June 14, 2005
GLOUCESTER -- A prominent businessman died Sunday evening when his
experimental aircraft crashed in a marsh in the Zanoni area.
John Douglas "Doug" Hall, 58, died upon impact
about 7:15 p.m., a Virginia State Police spokesman said. Hall's
aircraft plunged an estimated 200-300 feet before slamming upside
down and nose first into ankle-deep muck.
The Accident Airplane
Hall was a Gloucester native and owner of the Broaddus & Hall
furniture and appliance store in Gloucester Court House. He was
piloting a two-seat Maxair Drifter, a home-built, licensed
amphibious aircraft that he frequently flew, said Al Carpenter, a
friend and fellow pilot.
The force of the impact sheared off one of the props of the
propeller, located at the rear of the craft behind the passenger's
seat.
Carpenter, 67, was joined by six other friends and fellow members of
Southeast Virginia Ultralight Flyers on Monday in salvaging Hall's
aircraft. The men used a rope and chain to heft the aircraft out of
the mud before hauling it a few hundred yards through forest to a
trailer.
The cause of the crash is under investigation by the Virginia State
Police and Federal Aviation Administration.
Three state police investigators and two FAA investigators were at
the site of the crash on Monday.
Witnesses reported the aircraft appeared to be operating normally,
said Trooper George Thomas.
"Then it just went into a nosedive," he said.
The wreckage was spotted from the air about half an hour after it
crashed, Carpenter said. The mosquito-infested marsh where the plane
crashed is a backwash of Wilson Creek near White Hall Road.
Carpenter said he taught Hall to fly about 18 years ago.
"He was a good student and a good pilot," he said.
Hall frequently flew from the Piankatank River, where Hall's family
had a cottage, near Carpenter's home, Carpenter said.
"I saw him fly by my house a couple days ago," Carpenter said.
At the time Hall was flying, Gloucester had clear skies.
"Conditions were wonderful," Carpenter said. "No problem."
Hall's aircraft is about the size of a Piper Cub.
"It's like driving a motor scooter or a motorcycle," Carpenter said.
"You're in the open air, you're driving slow, the wind is in your
face. It's a wonderful, exhilarating way to fly."
Hall is survived by his wife, Sharon, and three daughters. Hall was
a member of Abingdon Episcopal Church and ran a jail ministry in
Gloucester.
A victim's daughter offers
urgent advice to ultra-light pilots
(read from the bottom up in this email exchange) |
To:
'dlfinzrcool@hotmail.com'
Sent: Wednesday, June 29,
2005 11:13 AM
Subject: RE: incorrect picture
/3
OK Elizabeth, it's a
plan.
I'll let you know when
it's up and mounted.
regards
safety@iasa-intl.com
From: Robson, Elizabeth
[mailto:dlfinzrcool@hotmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2005 11:06
PM
To:
safety@iasa-intl.com
Subject: RE: incorrect
picture
I
have no problem with that at all.
I’d be willing to list my e-mail address, as well, though not this one,
please. My “private” (aka non-work)
e-mail address is
dlfinzrcool@hotmail.com so if anyone
wants further info or to be directed to Al, who is the expert, they can contact
me.
When I
read the article about Mr. Walton, I have to admit that I was a little weirded
out. Not only did they both die in
experimentals, but they were the same age.
Then I got this mental picture of my dad and this guy sitting at a bar in
the afterlife, swapping stories about flying and doing the whole, “Well, let me
tell you about MY crash…” thing. It
made me chuckle and that doesn’t happen a lot these
days.
Thank
you for doing this. On a personal
side, it helps keep me from feeling so entirely helpless. I couldn’t do anything to help my dad,
but maybe, just maybe, I can help someone
else.
Have a
good week,
Elizabeth
-----Original
Message-----
From:
safety@iasa-intl.com [mailto:safety@iasa-intl.com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2005 10:53
AM
To: Robson,
Elizabeth [dlfinzrcool@hotmail.com]
Subject: RE:
incorrect picture
Elizabeth
If you're agreeable, IASA
will mount your letter below on that same page and add meta tags so that anybody
searching for info on the Maxair Drifter or similar ultra-light aircraft
construction will be easily able to locate it via a Google (or other) search
engine.
Hopefully the very recent John Walton U/L accident (see below)
was not due to something similar.
Regards
International
Aviation Safety Association (IASA )
|
I WONDER HOW MANY U/L ACCIDENTS THE
NTSB HAS INVESTIGATED WHEN THE PILOT WASN'T JOHN WALTON OF BENTONVILLE,
ARKANSAS (NET WORTH = ~$18BB).
AS THE THING APPARENTLY CAME APART
IMMEDIATELY AFTER T/O, THE POOL CHOICES ARE:
1. IMPROPER
ASSEMBLY
2. UNDETECTED PRE-EXISTING FATIGUE DAMAGE or CORROSION
3.
LIFT CABLE UNDER-TENSIONED (SEE #1 ABOVE)
4. THE JACKSON HOLE
POLTERGEIST STRIKES AGAIN
5. NONE OF THE ABOVE
6. PILOT
ERROR (PAYOFF ODDS 1 - 10,000 GIVEN THE NTSB'S
RECORD)
IJR
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
-----
Original Message -----
From: "NTSB Press Releases"
<NTSBPressReleases@NTSB.GOV
To:
<AVIATION@LISTSERV.NTSB.GOV
Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2005 7:24
AM
Subject: Advisory-Wyoming Ultra-Light
Crash
************************************************************
NTSB
ADVISORY
************************************************************
National
Transportation Safety Board
Washington, DC 20594
June 28,
2005
************************************************************
NTSB
SENDS INVESTIGATOR TO ULTRA-LIGHT CRASH
SCENE
************************************************************
The
National Transportation Safety Board has dispatched an investigator
from the Denver regional office to monitor developments at the scene
of
yesterday's crash of an unregistered air vehicle, reportedly an
ultra-light, near Jackson Hole Airport, in Wyoming. The sole occupant
of the vehicle, John Walton, was killed in the
crash. |
-----Original
Message-----
From: Robson, Elizabeth [mailto:dlfinzrcool@hotmail.com]
Sent:
Wednesday, June 29, 2005 10:21 PM
To: safety@iasa-intl.com
Subject: RE:
incorrect picture
Thank you, so much.
The corrosion that
caused the break in the fuselage was on the interior of the aluminum tube.
I've had an opportunity to inspect the wreckage and the corroded area around the
break is only noticeable on the interior. The chances of my dad finding
it, even if he were looking for it, would have been slim to none.
What gives that particular model's fuselage the necessary strength is the radius
of the aluminum tube. There is no central support beam or anything, it's
just a hollow tube. Because the corrosion was on the inside of the
tube and not visible from the exterior, trying to locate it would have been like
trying to locate corrosion on the inside of an inner tube.
You'd almost
have to cut it apart and look inside to check for it.
After talking to Al
Carpenter (a family friend and flight instructor for both my dad and myself),
detecting and even preventing that kind of corrosion would be very
difficult. You'd have to strip all of the attachments off the fuselage,
pour linseed oil into it and then rotate the entire fuselage to coat the
interior thoroughly. Rotating a pan in order to coat it with butter is one
thing, rotating an entire plane is quite another. Then, in order to
strengthen the area, you'd have to slip a metal sleeve over the parts that were
potentially corroded. Al grounded his plane and his brother's plane (which
were the same model as Daddy's) and is beginning the process of inspecting and
shoring them up.
You guys may want to contact Al for more detailed
information regarding this problem. It's a potential problem for all
Maxair Drifters and as I understand it, that company is no longer even in
business. If you guys could research it and put out an alert to flying
clubs across the world, maybe we can keep other Maxair Drifter pilots and their
families from suffering the same tragedy.
Thanks again for a good article
about my dad. How many men do you know that would give their daughters
flying lessons for their 17th birthday? LOL. He loved flying and was
so excited to share it with anyone who was interested. The only silver
lining that I can see in this whole mess is that maybe we can let other pilots
know about the problem and save someone's life.
Thanks,
Elizabeth
Robson
-----Original Message-----
From:
safety@iasa-intl.com [mailto:safety@iasa-intl.com]
Sent:
Wednesday, June 29, 2005 6:41 AM
To: Robson,
Elizabeth [dlfinzrcool@hotmail.com]
Subject: RE: incorrect
picture
Dear Elizabeth
Thanks for the correction. The photo has
been updated.
I'm sorry for your loss.
Regards
safety@iasa-intl.com
International Aviation Safety Association (IASA
)
-----Original Message-----
From: Robson, Elizabeth [mailto:dlfinzrcool@hotmail.com]
Sent:
Wednesday, June 29, 2005 5:34 AM
To: safety@iasa-intl.com
Subject:
incorrect picture
Importance: High
http://www.iasa.com.au/folders/Safety_Issues/RiskManagement/corrosioned.html
I'm
Doug Hall's daughter and the picture in this article is NOT my dad's
plane. I've attached a photo of Daddy's seaplane (original incorrect photo below).
<<Dad's Drifter.jpg>>
Thanks,
Elizabeth H. Robson
 |
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