N40440

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On August 8, 2010, about 0958 Pacific daylight time, a HOAC-Austria (now Diamond) HK-36R Super Dimona motorglider, N40440, serial number 36388, was substantially damaged when it impacted a building at Bend Municipal Airport (BDN), Bend, Oregon. The pilot/owner received fatal injuries. The flight was operated under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight.

According to several witnesses, the airplane departed from runway 16, gained a small amount of altitude, and then turned to the left, in an apparent effort to fly the traffic pattern and return for landing. One witness reported that the airplane never reached an altitude higher than approximately 50 feet, and another saw the left wing "dip down" shortly before the impact. The airplane struck an unoccupied factory building situated near the southeast corner of the airport. It came to rest on the ground upright, outside the building, and adjacent to a south-facing wall. The canopy was shattered, but the pilot remained in the cockpit. There was no fire.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) information, the pilot held a private pilot certificate with airplane singe engine land, single engine sea, multiengine land, and instrument ratings. His most recent FAA third-class medical certificate was issued in June 2009. He reported 5,000 hours of total flight experience on that medical application. Multiple attempts to obtain the pilot's flight records via family members and acquaintances were unsuccessful.

The Oregon State Police Medical Examiner Division autopsy report indicated that the cause of death was "blunt force injuries." The FAA Civil Aeromedical Institute conducted forensic toxicology examinations on specimens from the pilot, and reported that no carbon monoxide, cyanide, ethanol, or any screened drugs were detected.

FAA records indicated that in 2004, the pilot experienced a runway excursion in the accident airplane while landing at Camarillo Airport (CMA), Camarillo, California. He was not injured, and the airplane was not damaged during that event.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

The airplane was a powered sailplane that was manufactured in 1993, and was registered to the pilot in 2001. The airplane was of Austrian design and origin, and was equipped with a Rotax 912 A2 80 hp engine, and a wood propeller that could be fully feathered in flight. It was not approved for night or instrument flight, and aerobatics were prohibited.

The airplane was primarily of glass fiber composite construction, with standard three-axis flight controls operated by cables and push-pull tubes. Each wing was equipped with a dive brake, and the horizontal stabilizer was mounted atop the vertical stabilizer. Landing gear was fixed, conventional arrangement. Seating was two-place side by side. A single-piece canopy hinged at the aft end permitted cockpit ingress and egress.

The MT brand two-blade, variable pitch propeller was electronically controlled and electrically driven. For soaring purposes, the propeller could be fully feathered in flight. The manufacturer's FAA approved flight manual (FM) stated that 60 seconds was required to drive the blades from full-feather to start position, or vice versa.

A 21.1 total (20.9 usable) gallon aluminum fuel tank was located behind the two seats. The "Limitations" section of the FM stated that the airplane was approved to use "aviation grade 100LL, MOGAS leaded min. octane rating: 96 ROZ, [and] Automotive Super, unleaded, min. octane rating: 95 ROZ" fuels. A placard next to the fuel filler port contained the same information.

According to BDN operations personnel, the pilot based the airplane at BDN. He kept it in a hangar along with a Rockwell Aero Commander 690 that was also registered to him. A search of the hangar did not locate any logbooks for the pilot or maintenance records for the accident airplane. Multiple attempts to obtain the airplane's maintenance records via family members and acquaintances were unsuccessful.

METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION

The 0955 automated weather observation at BDN included winds of 3 knots from 260 degrees; clear skies; temperature 19 degrees C; dew point 9 degrees C; and an altimeter setting of 30.00 inches of mercury.

AIRPORT INFORMATION

FAA information indicated that the BDN elevation was 3,640 feet above mean sea level. The airport was equipped with a single paved runway, designated 16/34, that measured 5,200 by 75 feet. The traffic pattern was designated as left. A full-length parallel taxiway was located on the west side of the runway. The owner's hangar was situated on the east side of the airport, about 1,500 feet east of the runway. The taxiway from his hangar intersected the runway about 1,800 feet north of the threshold of runway 34, and 3,400 feet south of the threshold of runway 16.

The terrain south of the airport consisted of several relatively flat fields with tall grass and interspersed with some trees, and bounded by more trees, buildings, and powerlines.

The airport was not equipped with an air traffic control tower. There was no record of any communications to or from the airplane on the morning of the accident.

WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION

The airplane struck and came to rest against an unused factory building on airport property. The wreckage was located about 1,200 feet east, and 200 feet north, of the threshold of runway 34. The building was about 25 feet high, with a slightly sloped roof. The lower 8 feet of the exterior walls was unpainted concrete, while the upper 17 feet consisted of sheet metal panels painted dark red. Most of the area adjacent to the building near the impact site was paved with asphalt.

The first impact mark was on a south-facing wall at an outside southwest-facing corner of the building, and consisted of crush damage to a rain gutter downspout and the underlying sheet metal. The crush line was about 8 feet above ground level (agl), and was aligned about 30 degrees above the horizontal (from east-to-west). Corresponding fracture lines and impact signatures, including red paint transfer, were located about the midspan point of the right wing leading edge. Linear, white transfer marks about 15 feet long, and consistent with glass-fiber composite material abraded against the asphalt, extended from the vicinity of the outside corner towards the main wreckage. The airplane was situated against a second south-facing wall located about 50 feet north of the first wall that was impacted. The second wall was damaged over its full height in the vicinity of the wreckage. About 5 linear, evenly-spaced striations of white and red material were present on the asphalt just aft of where the nose of the airplane came to rest.

The fuselage was intact. The single piece T-configuration horizontal stabilizer was separated from, and lying just aft of, the vertical stabilizer. Both wings were significantly damaged. The left wing was split and twisted back inboard over the fuselage.

The engine remained attached to its mount, the mount remained attached to the fuselage, and the propeller blades and hub remained attached to the engine. Both propeller blades were missing their outboard halves; the ends were severely splintered, and multiple blade fragments were located in the immediate area. The fuel tank was intact, and the cap remained in place. The attachment status and condition of the fuel line(s) was not determined, but fuel was observed on the ground after the accident.

The fuel selector valve was found in its on position; the propeller pitch control was set to about 2,500 rpm; and the propeller mode switch was set to AUTO. The cockpit pitch trim control was set to the full airplane nose-up position. The light and fuel pump switches were found in their down (off) positions. The Mode master switch was found in the "Power Flight" position. The propeller control circuit breaker was found in the out/activated position; the circuit was disabled in that breaker position.

The Deschutes County Sheriff Office (DCSO) report stated that the first person on the scene, a private citizen, turned off the ignition and the "gas/fuel line." However, in a subsequent NTSB interview, that individual stated that he turned off the ignition and retarded the throttle, but did not alter any other control positions. Evaluation of photographs taken by DCSO personnel indicated that the fuel pump and light switches were in their up (on) positions shortly after the accident.

The wreckage was recovered and transported to a secure facility, where it was examined in detail about 2 months after the accident.

The canopy was securely latched, but the transparency was heavily fragmented, and separated from the canopy frame.

Examination of the flight control system did not reveal evidence of any pre-existing mechanical conditions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The two cockpit control sticks were attached to a common linkage and moved in unison. With the exception of impact-related fractures, the roll control system was continuous from the two cockpit control sticks to both ailerons, and no components were missing. Continuity was also determined for the pitch and yaw control systems. The pitch trim system was determined to be operable through its full range.

Red paint transfer marks were present on the leading edge of the right wing, the lower skin of the left wing, the upper left side of the vertical stabilizer and rudder, and the underside of the elevator.

The single strap that retained the welded aluminum fuel tank was fracture-separated. The bottom surface of tank exhibited deformation in the "down" direction, consistent with hydraulic deformation. The fuel quantity sensing unit was installed and intact. The sensing unit was removed and the tank was observed to conta...