Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lakeland Linder Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lakeland, Florida 33811
Sunday, July 20, 2003 19:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Preliminary reports from the Polk County Sheriff's Office stated that the experimental airplane struck power lines at an estimated height of 35 feet above the ground with the right wing tip, resulting in an uncontrolled descent in a field. A witness stated she observed a small bright yellow airplane around 1925 on night of the accident flying just over her residence. It caught her attention due to how low the airplane was flying just above the trees. She added, "I watched him head west at the same altitude for a very short distance and did a 90 degree bank to the left, then another to the right , after that he was completely out of sight." Several witnesses stated to the Polk County Sheriff Officer they observed the airplane perform what appeared to be "stunts or tricks" before descending toward the ground. They never saw the airplane impact the ground but observed the airplane in an open field. Pieces of the airplane were found next to the road as the witnesses headed toward the wreckage to check on the person aboard. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector that responded to the accident stated the power lines were located along Moore road 15 miles north of the Lakeland Airport, Lakeland, Florida. The airplane lost a portion of the right wing at the site of the power lines and continued west about 1/4 mile before it impacted with the ground. The postmortem examination of the pilot listed cause of death was multiple blunt force traumatic injuries sustained during an airplane crash. FAA toxicology analyses were negative for carbon monoxide, ethanol, cyanide, and specific drugs.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's decision to conduct low level flight and his failure to maintain obstacle clearance.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/20/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1930 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Lakeland |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33811 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 274310N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0813637W |
| Event Location Airport | Lakeland Linder Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KLAL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1850 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 127 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KLAL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 142 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 30000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2091 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17337 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SE Reg Com Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 20 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2045 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 24 2005 9:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Orlando FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N224RB |
| NTSB Number | MIA03LA146 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Sonerai |
| Aircraft Model | Sonerai IIB |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 10492230 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Howard Raymond Burgner |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1310 Parker Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Lakeland |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33811 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Howard Raymond Burgner |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1310 Parker Road |
| Operator City | Lakeland |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33811 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KLAL |
| Departure City | Lakeland |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1900 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |