N341AL

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn August 2, 2016, about 1322 Pacific daylight time, an Arion Aircraft Lightning LS-1 light-sport airplane, N341AL, was substantially damaged after it impacted a building during its departure from Van Nuys Airport (VNY), Van Nuys, California. The private pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was owned and operated by the pilot under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight, which departed Santa Monica Municipal Airport (SMO), Santa Monica, California, at 1308.

According to an acquaintance, the pilot planned to complete several touch-and-go takeoffs and landings at VNY on the day of the accident. Air traffic control (ATC) information from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) revealed that the pilot contacted the VNY tower controller and requested a full-stop landing on runway 16L. The pilot subsequently advised the controller that he was not familiar with the area and made multiple requests for navigation assistance, including a request for the controller to announce his base leg turn. Once the controller instructed the pilot to turn for the base leg, the pilot requested to extend his downwind leg to descend further and also requested a touch-and-go landing. According to the controller, the airplane touched down hard about 1,500 ft down the runway and subsequently took off.

Shortly into the airplane's climb, the pilot reported to the controller that he heard a "banging" sound, and the controller informed the pilot that his left main landing gear appeared to be "dangling." The tower controller advised the pilot that he could return to VNY or proceed to another airport at his discretion. The pilot stated that he planned to return to VNY; the tower controller observed the airplane immediately veer to the left and descend. Another pilot reported over the tower frequency that an airplane had crashed east of the airport.

Several witnesses observed the airplane during its departure from VNY. One witness (Witness 3 in Figure 1) observed a piece of the left main landing gear hanging from the airplane as it climbed from runway 16L. The airplane then began a left turn from the departure end of the runway that initially looked normal, but then the airplane decelerated. At this time, two witnesses who had listened to the exchange between the pilot and the controller (Witnesses 1 & 2), reported that, seconds after the pilot's final communication, they observed the airplane enter a hard left turn. One witness described the turn as a "knife edge." The airplane's nose yawed left to a nose-down attitude and the airplane rapidly descended toward the ground. Witness 5, who was a passenger in a helicopter at the time of the accident, reported that the airplane entered the descent from an altitude about 350 ft above ground level and impacted an industrial park below. Witness 4 reported hearing a sputtering engine about 7 seconds before the airplane impacted the ground.

Figure 1 – Witness Locations PERSONNEL INFORMATIONThe pilot, age 78, held a private pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land and instrument airplane. His most recent third-class medical certificate was issued on September 12, 2012, with no limitations. During the exam, the pilot reported that he had accumulated 908 total hours of flight experience, 60 hours of which were in the previous 6 months. The pilot's medical certificate was not valid after September 30, 2014.

The pilot's most recent logbook records showed that he had accumulated a total of 19.6 hours from October 14, 2015 to February 2, 2016. His flight experience before 2015 was captured in a logbook that spanned from 2005 to 2008. His most recent flight review was completed on February 15, 2016. According to an acquaintance, in 2014, the pilot was involved in a car accident that resulted in serious injuries and required intensive care treatment for about 5 months. Another witness reported that the pilot took several months to recuperate but was not the same person physically after the car accident. The witness stated that when the pilot returned to flying, he was unable to hold his head straight. He was frequently hunched over and was only capable of using about 10% of his right arm and hand strength. When driving, the pilot frequently used his left hand to pick up his right arm and place it on the gear shift. The witness reported that the pilot's physical condition was the same the day before the accident. The witness further stated that several instructors refused to fly with him; eventually, the pilot found one instructor who agreed to sign him off for a flight review. The witness stated that several of the pilot's peers had encouraged him to stop flying.

Flight Review

The instructor who endorsed the accident pilot for his flight review reported that they started flying together in September 2015 and accumulated 23 hours of flight instruction before the instructor would endorse the pilot for a flight review. The instructor stated that the pilot had difficulty with turn coordination and airplane control in the airport traffic pattern and found landing the airplane to be challenging. The flight instructor informed the pilot that he would not endorse him for the completion of a flight review until he demonstrated consistency in the airplane, which took about 5 months.

Recent Flight History

An acquaintance reported that the pilot had a total of three incidents in the airplane following the car accident, not including the accident flight. The first incident occurred in March 2015 during a landing attempt. The flight instructor who was in the airplane with the pilot during the incident reported that he stopped flying with the pilot due to safety concerns. According to the instructor, the pilot had difficulty entering and exiting the airplane and did not seem mentally "sharp," as he did not look for or listen for other air traffic. During flight, the pilot consistently overcontrolled the airplane and was unable to hold altitude, particularly in the airport traffic pattern. During landing attempts, the pilot would either touch the airplane down early and bounce the airplane or hold the airplane in a nose-high attitude to bleed off airspeed then let the nose drop aggressively. The instructor recounted that during their landing attempt, the airplane touched down on the main landing gear and then floated, but the pilot pushed the control stick forward hard. The nose landing gear subsequently impacted the ground and separated. The instructor discontinued flight instruction with the pilot shortly after the incident.

The second incident occurred in May 2016 during a landing attempt that resulted in damage to the nose landing gear. According to an airport representative who responded to the incident, the pilot stated that the airplane bounced once then impacted the runway in a slight nose-low attitude, which caused the nose landing gear to collapse. The pilot did not want to report the incident and argued that he did not require a medical certificate because the airplane met the requirements of a light sport aircraft that only required a driver's license to fly. The pilot was "very weak," as his knees and hands bothered him.

The pilot's most recent incident occurred about 1 month before the accident during a landing attempt at SMO. According to the witness, the airplane "came roaring down the runway," landed long, and overran the runway end. The pilot brought the airplane to a stop in the airport's non-movement area. AIRCRAFT INFORMATIONThe airplane was powered by a Jabiru 3300 normally-aspirated, direct drive, air-cooled, 120-horsepower engine. The pilot's service facility provided the original logbooks, which revealed that the airplane's most recent annual inspection was completed on December 1, 2015, at an airplane and engine time of 46 hours. METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATIONThe 1351 recorded weather observation at VNY included wind from 120° true at 8 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, clear skies, temperature 32°C, dew point 11°C, and an altimeter setting of 29.96 inches of mercury. AIRPORT INFORMATIONThe airplane was powered by a Jabiru 3300 normally-aspirated, direct drive, air-cooled, 120-horsepower engine. The pilot's service facility provided the original logbooks, which revealed that the airplane's most recent annual inspection was completed on December 1, 2015, at an airplane and engine time of 46 hours. WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATIONThe airplane came to rest about 1/8 nautical mile from VNY against the side of a building. The initial impact point (IIP) was identified by a broken wooden utility pole and multiple severed wires. The end of the debris path was marked by the main wreckage, which was heavily fragmented about 15 ft beyond the IIP. An odor of fuel was detected at the accident site, which was accompanied by a large fuel stain on the ground beneath the main wreckage. One wooden propeller blade remained attached to the propeller hub, while the second blade was sheared at the propeller root.

The flight control system was fragmented but did not display any anomalies.

The flap system was continuous from the flap motor to the right and left control arms at the wing roots. The flap actuator cylinder was separated from a portion of the actuator that measured about 1.5 inches. According to the manufacturer, this measurement was consistent with 20° of flap extension.

The left main landing gear wheel and fairing had separated from the landing gear strut. The forward face box plate at the junction of the strut and nose landing gear tire displayed scraping and polishing consistent with preimpact ground contact. The cylinder block of the landing gear strut that normally attaches to the main landing gear wheel exhibited impact signatures consistent with overload separation.

Fuel System

About 4 oz of fuel was drained from the gascolator b...