Arthur B Canning MERLIN LITE accident near Mulberry, FL
On April 2, 2024, an Arthur B Canning MERLIN LITE (glider) was involved in an accident near Mulberry, FL. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- April 2, 2024
- Place
- Mulberry, FL
- Aircraft
- Arthur B Canning MERLIN LITE · Glider
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 27.931°N, 82.042°W
- NTSB ID
- 20240402194019
Official records · ERA24FA160
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn April 2, 2024, at 1038 eastern daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Merlin Lite, N622PC, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Mulberry, Florida. The private pilot was fatally injured. The motorglider was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The manager of the company who the pilot/builder had bought the kit from reported that the pilot flew the motorglider two days before the accident and to his knowledge that was the only flight the pilot completed in the motorglider. He had spoken with the pilot after the flight and the pilot told him he had practiced “crow hops.” An article in the September 2022 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine stated the idea behind a crow hop was “…you lift the airplane off the runway, cruise a few feet forward, and then land.” A witness saw the motorglider taxi toward the end of runway 14 at South Lakeland Airport (X49), Lakeland, Florida, and that the engine sounded “a bit rough but it is only a small 2-stroke so I didn’t think it was unusual.” He reported that when he heard the motorglider at a high power setting, he and another witness turned to watch the takeoff. Multiple witnesses reported that when the motorglider was about 100 to 150 ft agl the engine went silent. Review of a surveillance video revealed that after liftoff, as the motorglider was about midfield, it turned right, then left, then pitched up before the left wing dropped and the motorglider began a near-vertical left rotating descent until impacting the ground. PERSONNEL INFORMATIONA
Probable cause
The pilot/builder’s modifications of the motorglider’s engine, which resulted in an excessively lean fuel air mixture, preignition, piston failure, and a subsequent total loss of engine power during the initial climb. Contributing to the outcome was the pilot’s failure to maintain airspeed and his exceedance of the motorglider’s critical angle of attack following the loss of engine power, which re
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Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
