N6101F

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On October 27, 2002, about 1331 eastern standard time, a Cessna 172M, N9840V, registered to Power Systems LTD, Inc., and operated by American Flying Club Inc. as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, and a Cessna 172N, N6101F, registered to a private individual, and operated by Airborne Systems Inc., as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, collided while in cruise flight in Coral Springs, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plans were filed for either flight. N9840V was destroyed, and the private-rated dual student and the commercial-rated flight instructor received fatal injuries. N6101F incurred substantial damage, and the private-rated dual student and the commercial-rated flight instructor received no injuries. Both flights originated from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the same day, with N9840V having departed about 1245, and N6101F, about 1253.

According to the dual student on N6101F, he and his flight instructor had been flying in a practice area west of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and they had performed "8's on pylons and lazy 8's", as part of the commercial maneuvers training in pursuit of an FAA commercial pilot certificate. The student said he was the pilot flying N6101F, and they were proceeding southeast bound at an altitude of 2,000 feet, on a 120-degree magnetic bearing to the "WSBR 740 AM radio tower." As they neared the "740 tower", he said they were receiving needle fluctuations on N6101F's ADF indicator, indicative of them being very close to the tower, when all of a sudden, an airplane appeared very close, in the right corner of their airplane's windshield, having come from behind the blind spot created by their airplane's right wing. He said it looked as if the pilot of the other airplane saw them about the same time, and thinks that both he and the other pilot immediately initiated right turns in an attempt to avoid the other. The student further stated that as he initiated the right turn, the other airplane appeared to effectively travel across his airplane's windshield from right to left, remaining just above the glare shield covering his airplane's instrument panel. He said that as his instructor yelled "oh", and he simultaneously turned the airplane hard to the right, he noticed an object that was dark on the face of the pilot in the other airplane, but added that he was not sure whether it was a pair of sunglasses or an instrument training view limiting device. He said he then felt the impact of his airplane's left wing colliding with some portion of the other airplane, and his airplane "tumbled", and entered a spin to the left. During the spin, he said he saw another airplane about 250 to 300 feet below him, and it appeared to be inverted.

The instructor on N6101F stated that upon seeing the other airplane close aboard, he immediately took control of the airplane from his student, and recovered from the spin. He then made emergency communication transmissions to advise others of the situation, and affected an emergency landing to a dirt road paralleling the then busy Sawgrass Expressway.

The other airplane in the collision, N9840V impacted a dirt road in a rock quarry in the vicinity of the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, in unincorporated Palm Beach County, and was destroyed on impact.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

Records obtained from the airplane operator, as well as the FAA showed that the dual student on N9840V held a private pilot certificate with a single-engine land rating, issued on April 20, 2000. He also held a second class medical certificate issued on October 10, 2001 with no limitations, and had accumulated about 200 hours total flight experience, with about 30 flight hours within the last 90 days.

According to information obtained from the owner of American Flying Club, Inc., the dual student and flight instructor on N9840V were on an instrument training flight, in preparation for the dual student's upcoming FAA instrument flight test for the instrument rating, when the accident occurred.

The flight instructor on N9840V held a commercial pilot as well as a flight instructor certificate with airplane single engine, airplane multiengine, and instrument ratings. The instructor's commercial pilot certificate was issued on May 30, 2001, and the flight instructor certificate was last issued on July 22, 2002. The flight instructor also possessed an advanced ground instructor certificate. He had accumulated about 1528 hours of total flight experience, with about 270 flight hours in the last 90 days.

FAA records showed that the dual student on N6101F held a private pilot certificate with airplane single engine and instrument ratings, issued on July 16, 2002. He also held a third-class medical certificate issued on February 7, 2001, with the stated limitation that he must wear corrective lenses. At the time of the accident he had accumulated about 130 flight hours, with about 11 flight hours having been completed in the last 90 days.

The flight instructor on N6101F held a commercial pilot certificate with airplane single and multi engine land and instrument ratings, as well as a flight instructor certificate, last issued on July 19, 2002, with airplane single engine land and instrument ratings. He held a first class medical certificate, issued on May 15, 2002, with the limitation that he must wear corrective lenses for near vision, and he had accumulated a total flight time of 519 flight hours, with about 218 flight hours having been flown in the last 90 days.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

N9840V was a 1975 model Cessna 172M, serial number 17264526. The airplane was registered to Power Systems Limited Inc., and was being operated by American Flying Club, Inc. Records obtained from the operator showed that N9840V had received a 100-hour inspection on September 12, 2002, and at that time it had a total flight time of about 13819 hours. The airplane was equipped with a 150 horsepower Lycoming O-320-E2D engine, serial number L40023-27A. The engine was last overhauled on August 14, 2000, at 1820.9 hours. The airplane was equipped with a McCauley propeller, model number 1C160/DTM 7553, serial number 725867.

N6101F is a 1980 Cessna 172N, serial number 17273149, and records obtained from the operator showed that at the airplane had received a 100-hour inspection on October 16, 2002, and at the time of the inspection it had accumulated about 6257.0 flight hours. The airplane was equipped with a 150 horsepower Lycoming O-320-H2AD engine, serial number RL-6525-76T. The engine was last overhauled on November 28, 2001, at 4610.0 flight hours, and it was equipped with a McCauley propeller, model number 1C160/DTM 7557, serial number 735235.

METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION

Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (FXE) 1353 surface weather observation was, 3,000 feet scattered, visibility 10 statute miles, wind from 110 degrees at 7 knots, temperature 86 degrees F, dew point temperature 70 degrees F, altimeter setting 29.98 inHg.

COMMUNICATIONS

There were no reported problems with communications on N6101F. According to both pilots onboard, a short time earlier, they had communicated their intentions on frequency 123.45, stating that they were departing the practice area, and was proceeding southeast bound, and their communications had been acknowledged by occupants of the other airplane. Both pilots in N6101F said they heard no other radio communications after they had communicated their intentions on the radio. In addition, immediately after the collision, the flight instructor on board N6101F declared and emergency and his radio communications call was received.

The cockpit and instrumentation on N9840V was destroyed and no frequency settings could be obtained from the wreckage.

WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION

The wreckage of N9840V impacted the ground in a quarry, in a near vertical nose down attitude, in position 26 degrees, 20.162 minutes north latitude, 080 degrees, 17.475 minutes west longitude, on an azimuth of about 150 degrees magnetic. Preliminary examination of the wreckage revealed that portions of the airplane that was necessary for flight was located in the general vicinity of the main wreckage. The vertical stabilizer/rudder had detached and lay at the rear of the main wreckage, and the propeller had detached at the crankshaft, and it lay at the front. The propeller bolts had fractured, exhibiting the signatures consistent with overstress. One propeller blade had a slight forward bend, with leading edge damage close to the hub, and both blades exhibited mid core abrasions. There was heavy compression damage on the spinner, consistent with a nose-low steep impact angle when it impacted the ground.

N9840V had incurred severe in-flight and ground impact damage. The top of the cabin had separated from the floor of the cabin in the area of the doorposts, and the fuselage aft of the main landing gear had remained largely intact, connected by the control cables, with extensive compression damage on both sides. The right wing had separated from the fuselage and had remained attached by the control cables. There was compression wrinkling on the right wing's leading edge, and the associated fuel tank had been breached. The left wing had completely opened up due to impact forces. The damaged horizontal stabilizer/elevator had remained attached by cables and some metal, and had flipped under the area forward of the empennage. The right side of the horizontal stabilizer/elevator segment had the complete elevator and trim tab attached, but the left side was largely complete except for the outboard portion. The left elevator weight/outboard portion of the elevator from N9840V found later to have lodged in the wing of N6101F.

N9840V's vertical stabilizer/rudder assembly had detached, and was located about 2...