N90LKKays Milo Luther RV-6 · 1990

On April 29, 2019, about 1413 Pacific daylight time, a Vans Aircraft RV-6 airplane, N90LK, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near La Center, Washington. The pilot and flight instructor were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight.

According to the pilot's wife, the purpose of the flight was to conduct the pilot's flight review, and he was scheduled to meet the instructor at the airport about 1330. The instructor’s daughter reported that it was common for him to fly to Daybreak Airport (WA46), La Center, Washington, for landing and takeoff practice.

About 1515, a pilot landing at WA46 saw airplane wreckage in a pond located under the final approach path to runway 31. A review of radar data at about the time of the accident and in the area of WA46 located two targets. One was determined to be the accident airplane, and the other was that of the airplane that located and reported the wreckage.

The first radar return with altitude data was recorded at 1404:33 at an altitude of 1,100 ft, about 1/2-mile northeast of Grove Field (1W1), Camas, Washington. The data showed that the airplane was on a northerly heading for about 11 miles before it turned west, directly toward W46. The data showed that the airplane flew parallel to the runway at WA46 at an altitude of 2,500 ft mean sea level (msl). As shown in figure 2, the airplane completed a descending 180° left turn and entered a left downwind for runway 31, where it leveled off at an altitude of about 500 ft above ground level (agl). The final radar target was captured at 1413:42 and depicted the airplane nearly abeam the runway 31 threshold, about 500 ft agl.

Figure 1. View of the last portion of radar data along with the airport location and accident site.

The airplane came to rest in a shallow (1-2 ft) floodplain pond along the extended centerline of runway 31 and about 1,000 ft from the threshold. The airplane was upright, in an approximate 15° nose down attitude, on a heading of about 130°. All major structural components of the airplane remained attached or partially attached to the airplane.

The pond contained numerous upright flagged sticks which marked planted saplings. These sticks/flags were regularly and closely (3-5 ft) spaced. Almost all sticks surrounding the airplane, including some below the upraised empennage, were undisturbed.

The fuselage was fractured and buckled at both the firewall and the aft cockpit bulkhead. The engine and cowl were displaced up and to the right. The aft fuselage was also displaced to the right. The lower forward fuselage displayed significant upward crush damage direction, and the two fixed main landing gear legs and wheel assemblies were displaced aft and up.

Both wings remained attached to the fuselage, but with significant leading edge crush damage in the aft direction. The flaps were found in the fully-retracted position, as was the cockpit flap handle. The left aileron was separated from the wing at its outboard end but remained attached inboard. The right aileron remained completely attached to the wing. The left wing fuel tank cap was absent, but the right wing fuel cap was present and securely installed. The horizontal and vertical stabilizers, as well as their respective balance weights and control surfaces, remained attached and undamaged.

The engine was partly covered in mud, but no evidence of catastrophic mechanical failure was observed. The two-blade metal propeller remained attached to the engine. One blade was bent aft, and the other blade was essentially undamaged.

Bird remains were found on the right (outboard) arm/clothing of the flight instructor. Examination of the recovered wreckage revealed that a considerable amount of dry mud/dirt covered a majority of the engine. During removal of the dirt from the engine, evidence of bird remains was found in multiple areas, including feathers embedded into the upper right engine mount attachment bolt area and surrounding the engine-driven fuel pump.

Examination of the engine revealed no evidence of any preexisting mechanical malfunction. Flight control continuity was established throughout the airframe to all primary flight control surfaces.

Examination of the collected bird remains was conducted by the Feather Identification Lab of the Smithsonian Institution. The remains were consistent with an adult Green-Winged Teal, a species common to the geographic region as well as the specific accident locale (flooded field).

Pilot

The Clark County Medical Examiner, Vancouver, Washington, performed an autopsy of the pilot. The cause of death was "multiple blunt force injuries."

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Forensic Sciences Laboratory conducted forensic toxicology examinations on specimens from the pilot; no carbon monoxide or ethanol were detected. Salicylate and Ibuprofen were detected in the urine.

Instructor

The Clark County Medical Examiner, Vancouver, Washington, performed an autopsy of the instructor. The cause of death was "multiple blunt force injuries," and that the autopsy revealed no significant natural disease.

The FAA Forensic Sciences Laboratory conducted forensic toxicology examinations on specimens from the instructor; no carbon monoxide, ethanol, or tested-for drugs were detected.