Accident Details
Probable Cause and Findings
Premature rotation by the pilot during takeoff, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/mush, while attempting to accelerate in ground effect after lift-off.
Aircraft Information
Registered Owner (Historical)
Analysis
On October 7, 1995, about 1352 eastern daylight time, a homebuilt Pulsar XP, N912XL, crashed during takeoff from the Inverness Airport, Inverness, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight. The airplane was substantially damaged by impact and a postcrash fire and the commercial-rated pilot sustained serious injuries. One passenger who was seriously injured died 13 days after the accident. The flight was originating at the time of the accident.
The pilot stated that he performed an engine run-up before takeoff with no discrepancies noted. During the takeoff ground roll under no wind condition with the flaps retracted, he intentionally remained on the ground for a longer time. After rotation he lowered the nose of the airplane to accelerate during which the airplane rolled to the left, descended, and touched down. While on the ground travelling about 10-15 miles per hour, the right wing of the airplane collided with a runway marker sign. The airplane then spun to the right and came to rest on a heading of about 085 degrees. A postcrash fire started on the right side of the airplane after it came to rest. He reported that he rescued his wife who was uninjured as a result of the collision with the sign, out the left side of the airplane. He further stated that there was no preimpact failure or malfunction of the engine or flight controls.
A witness who was located about 150 yards south of the airport observed the airplane during the takeoff ground roll and stated that it appeared to him that the airplane was in a nose high attitude. The airplane climbed to 6-7 feet above the runway then was observed to roll to his right and disappeared behind trees.
Information pertaining to the weather is contained in an NTSB Weather Factual Report. The pilot later reported that the wind condition was calm at the time of the accident.
According to the designer of the airplane, the calculated stall speed at the time of the accident was about 48 miles per hour.
Data Source
Data provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). For more information on this event, visit the NTSB Records Search website. NTSB# MIA96LA004