Murray Blair L FREE BIRD CLASSIC accident near Kylertown, PA
On October 12, 2015, a Murray Blair L FREE BIRD CLASSIC (airplane) was involved in an accident near Kylertown, PA. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- October 12, 2015
- Place
- Kylertown, PA
- Aircraft
- Murray Blair L FREE BIRD CLASSIC · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 41.052°N, 78.409°W
- NTSB ID
- 20151012X01734
Official records · ERA16LA010
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
On October 12, 2015, at 1835 eastern daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Free Bird Classic airplane, N176FB, was destroyed while maneuvering to land at the pilot's private airstrip near Kylertown, Pennsylvania. The private pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions existed near the accident site at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated from the private airstrip about 1815.The pilot's son stated that his father had recently built the airplane and this was his first flight. Several witnesses heard the airplane flying circuits around the private airstrip. One witness said the airplane was preparing to land and was about 50 ft above the ground in a level flight attitude when it suddenly nosed over. The witness did not see the impact but heard the crash and immediately responded to the site. Another witness said the airplane made two circuits around the airstrip and was coming into land. While on final approach in a level attitude, at an altitude of about 100 ft above the ground, the right wing suddenly "flipped up" about 90 degrees and the airplane descended toward the ground. The witness did not see the impact, but heard the engine rev up just before the airplane hit the ground. Other witnesses also heard the engine rev up before impact. The airplane came to rest on a road in a steep, nose-down attitude about 500 yds short of the runway. There was no post-impact fire. A review of photos tak
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain sufficient airspeed during approach for landing, which resulted in an inadvertent aerodynamic stall/spin. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s lack of flight experience in the accident airplane make and model.
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Browse: Pennsylvania
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
