N352BT

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn May 1, 2018, at 1931 Pacific daylight time, an experimental, amateur-built American Air Racing (AAR) Thunder Mustang (Blue Thunder II), N352BT, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing at Reno/Stead Airport (RTS), Reno, Nevada. The airline transport pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was registered to TM-1 Ltd. and operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight, which departed about 1815.

The airplane was taking part in an in-flight photography mission with another Thunder Mustang, with the photographs being taken from a Beechcraft Bonanza. This was the second photography flight the group had flown that day. The first flight began about 1500 and lasted about 1 hour.

About 1 hour into the accident flight, which included multiple north-south passes north of the airport, the group agreed that they were beginning to get fatigued and decided to end the mission and return to RTS.

When the airplanes were about 5 miles from the airport, the accident pilot transmitted a "mayday" radio call over the common traffic advisory frequency. The pilot of the other Thunder Mustang asked for a confirmation, and the accident pilot responded again with a mayday call, adding that he intended to land on runway 14. The other pilot watched as the airplane began to descend toward the airport. He saw it overshoot the extended runway 14 centerline, then begin a wide 180° left turn followed by a right turn to rejoin the centerline. By this time, the airplane was midfield and low over the runway, flying at what the second pilot judged to be a high speed. He could not tell if the airplane had touched down or was still floating over the runway in ground effect, and as it approached the end of the runway, it veered off the right side and nosed over.

The airplane came to rest inverted in a gravel area about 20 ft right of the runway edge and 80 ft short of the runway's paved end. The runway surface exhibited a 1,200-ft-long series of intermittent black tire skid marks and intermittent propeller blade gouges leading from the runway centerline to the airplane.

The final stage of the accident sequence was captured by a video camera mounted on the airport operations building at the southeast corner of the airport, about 1,500 ft southwest of the end of runway 14. The camera was facing northeast with a field of view that included the last 2,000 ft of runway 14. When the airplane came into view, it was traveling from left to right with the main landing gear on the runway surface. As it progressed, the tail began to rise and as the airplane passed to the right and out of the camera's view, it had transitioned to a 45° nose-down attitude. The main wreckage was located about 50 ft beyond the point where it exited the camera field of view.

A runway construction crew, along with the other pilots from the photography mission, arrived at the accident site within about 3 minutes, followed a few minutes later by the local fire department. They observed that the vertical stabilizer had folded against the right horizontal stabilizer and that the canopy was shattered by ground impact. The flaps were found in the 43° (full down) position, and the landing gear was extended.

The pilot remained in his seat restrained by his four-point harness. His helmet was impinged against the gravel surface, and his head was tilted forward so that his chin was in contact with his chest. The first pilot to arrive stated that he could initially hear the pilot mumbling, and he reached into the cockpit and asked the pilot if he could turn off any switches, but the pilot did not respond. He did not hear the pilot make any more sounds. A paramedic arrived at the accident site about 11 minutes after the accident, assessed the pilot's condition, and reported that although the pilot initially appeared to be conscious, he became unresponsive after about 2 minutes. The group attempted to lift the airplane up by the wing to relieve the pressure on the pilot, but it was too heavy. Multiple attempts to move and lift the airplane were unsuccessful. The pilot was extracted about 45 minutes after the accident, when the fire department used a combination of lifting devices and dug a hole in the gravel under the cockpit. PERSONNEL INFORMATIONThe 80-year-old pilot held an airline transport pilot certificate with a rating for airplane multiengine land, type ratings for the B-707, B-720, B-727, DC-9, and DC-10, and commercial privileges for airplane single-engine land. He held an airframe and powerplant certificate (A&P), with inspection authorization (IA).

The pilot was the sole owner of AAR and employed a crew of three mechanics in part- and full-time capacities. The pilot performed most of the work on the accident airplane, including engine removal and installation. He oversaw and signed off on all work performed, because the other mechanics did not hold Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) mechanic ratings. AAR performed maintenance work for multiple types of aircraft but specialized in the Thunder Mustang due to the owner's experience with the type.

The pilot had extensive flight experience in air racing and reported 30,000 total civilian hours of flight time as of his last FAA medical examination on July 7, 2017.

No pilot logbooks were recovered. The pilot's most recent flight experience was determined from his application as a participant in the Reno National Championship Air Races Pylon Racing Seminar (PRS). The application was dated March 13, 2018, and at that time the pilot reported 326 total hours of flight experience in the accident airplane make and model, of which 287 was in the accident airplane. He reported 34 hours of flight experience in the previous 90 days.

The pilot also owned and flew a Piper PA-34, and according to employees of AAR, these were the only two airplanes he flew. Maintenance logbooks for the PA-34 indicated that it had accumulated 5.4 hours of flight time in the previous 3 months; the accident airplane had accumulated 2.48 hours of flight time during that period.

Employees of AAR along with the pilots involved in the photography mission all stated that the pilot seemed to be his usual self before the accident. Although he needed assistance getting into the airplane, this was not unusual. Employees and the pilot's son all noted what they considered to be normal, "age-related" degradation over the years they had known him, but no recent acceleration or issues of concern. They also stated that he tended to be strong-willed and would not likely disclose any medical concerns. The pilot lived alone; therefore, a meaningful 72-hour history of his activities leading up to the accident could not be determined.

One of the pilots in the photographic mission stated that the accident pilot expressed irritation that the maximum speed of the Bonanza was too slow to allow for stable flight of the Thunder Mustang while photographing it. He also noted that the accident pilot did not appear to be flying with his usual level of precision on both flights, and was not in as close formation as he should have been. Additionally, 2 days before the accident, a friend of the pilot saw the pilot struggle with his balance after leaning over to look at something on the hangar floor. As he stood back up again, he fell back to the ground after trying to avoid the wing strut of an airplane. His friend described the pilot as dizzy and disoriented. He had slight trouble walking after the event, and was unable to lift his foot to get into his golf cart. The pilots son, who was also there, stated that the pilot sometimes experienced these issues if he stood for too long, but on that day, he appeared to be back to normal a short time later. AIRCRAFT INFORMATIONThe airplane was a kit-built, 3/4-scale replica of the P-51 Mustang, composed primarily of composite materials. The original manufacturer of the kit (Papa 51) formed in the early 1990's and went out of business around 1998-1999. The company assets were subsequently purchased by the Thunder Mustang Builders Group (TBG), and then by an individual in 2012. According to TBG, 37 kits were originally sold, and 15 airplanes were flying at the time of the accident. The accident pilot was a member of the TBG, and had become known as an expert in the type.

The airplane was equipped with a liquid-cooled, fuel injected, 12-cylinder engine manufactured by Ryan Falconer Racing Engines. The engine was based on the Chevrolet "small block" automobile engine and was designed for use in high-performance, custom-built marine, automobile, and aviation applications.

Most of the engine's accessories were mounted on the rear of the engine and included the fuel pump, coolant pump, propeller governor, auxiliary alternator, and both the scavenge and pressure oil pumps. The accessories were driven simultaneously by the engine crankshaft via a parallel pair of Kevlar serpentine belts. The coolant pump was an automotive centrifugal type, driven by the belts via a pulley attached to the pump drive flange.

The primary alternator was also attached to the rear of the engine, but driven by its own dedicated belt. Engine ignition was controlled by independent dual electronic engine control units, both powered simultaneously from the main and auxiliary electrical systems.

The propeller was a 101.5-inch diameter, three-blade, hydraulically (engine oil) operated constant-speed propeller, manufactured by Hartzell Propellers exclusively for installation on Thunder Mustang airplanes. According to Hartzell, the propeller incorporated design features for air racing. Specifically, it included a 60° mechanical high pitch stop, designed such that in the event of oil pressure loss or a propeller governor failure at high airspeed, the propeller would move to the 60° blade angle position (higher than normal operatio...