UNREG

On February 24, 2007, about 1121 eastern standard time, an unregistered BB Trike airplane, operated by a private individual, was landed hard during a forced landing near Sarasota, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal, local. The airplane was substantially damaged and the noncertificated pilot sustained serious injuries, while the passenger sustained minor injuries. The flight originated about 10 minutes earlier, from a sod farm near Sarasota, Florida.

The pilot stated that he last filled the aircraft's fuel tank approximately 2 months earlier with a 50:1 fuel/oil mixture. He performed a preflight inspection of the aircraft and also warmed up the engine before takeoff. After takeoff with a full fuel tank, he orbited the sod farm while climbing to 800 feet, then proceeded west. While flying at 800 feet near a major highway (I-75), the engine suddenly quit. He mentioned to the passenger that he would land there (he actually wanted to land in the median), but the passenger panicked. He then proceeded towards a road and entered a traffic pattern for landing on it. While on the downwind leg for landing on the road, a car pulled onto it. He then opted to land on a bank near a small pond, and a thermal caused the aircraft to descend. He recovered at 30 feet, and told the passenger to hold on. He was lined up to fly between trees and tried to flare but the aircraft impacted the ground. After getting out of the aircraft he helped the passenger out. The airplane was recovered for further examination.

Examination of the wreckage was performed by an FAA inspector following recovery of the airplane. Visual inspection of the fuel that was in the fuel tank at the time of the accident revealed no abnormalities. Examination of the engine revealed the in-line fuel filter was free of obstructions, the carburetor bowl was clean but empty, and the float moved freely. Fuel was supplied to the engine and it was started and operated to idle speed. Impact damage to the propeller blade tips prevented operation at higher rpm.

Operation of an unregistered two-place airplane that exceeds limitations specified in 14 CFR Part 103 is granted by exemption of the FAA through either the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), United States Ultralight Association (USUA), or Aero Sports Connection, Inc. (ASC); the exemption is allowed for the purpose of giving flight instruction. The pilot-in-command admitted he did not have an exemption by either of the 3 groups, and was not giving flight instruction during the accident flight.