Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Hartsville Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hartsville, South Carolina 29550
Saturday, March 8, 2014 18:58 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On March 8, 2014, about 1858 eastern standard time, an experimental amateur built Lancair IVP, N724HP, was substantially damaged after a loss of control in Hartsville, South Carolina. The private pilot, and the two pilot rated passengers were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight conducted under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91, which departed Darlington County Jetport (UDG), Darlington, South Carolina.
According to witnesses, the private pilot had been having problems with the airplane's landing gear system and had been receiving a "Gear Unsafe" indication. Earlier on the day of the accident he was observed working on the airplane and when queried by one of the witnesses, the pilot advised him that he was troubleshooting an electrical problem.
Later that day, the private pilot and one of the pilot rated passengers, departed UDG, flew around the local area "for some time," and then landed at Hartsville Regional Airport (HVS), Hartsville, South Carolina. At 1510 the private pilot refueled the airplane with 50 gallons of fuel and then at approximately 1610 took off alone and returned to UDG. Sometime after returning to UDG, the private pilot took off again, this time not only with the pilot rated passenger he had been flying with earlier that day but, also with an additional pilot rated passenger.
At approximately 1819, a relative of the private pilot received a text message asking him to come to HVS, as the landing gear would not come down. Then at 1836 he received a second message to "Call 911." Around the time that the private pilot sent the text, a witness observed the airplane pass by him numerous times during an approximately 15 minute long period. The airplane was "low" to the ground. On the last pass, he could hear the airplane's engine running, and observed the airplane fly across HVS about midfield at 600 to 700 feet above ground level, bank sharply to the left, pitch up to about 25 degrees nose up, then descend rapidly in a nose high attitude until he lost sight of the airplane. Moments later, he heard the sound of impact, and observed a large fire ball and smoke.
Examination of the accident site revealed that the airplane had struck two trees before making ground contact, and coming to rest next to a row of trees. Multiple pieces of wood were present on the ground which exhibited evidence of propeller strike marks.
Examination of the wreckage revealed that it had been exposed to a postcrash fire and that there was no evidence of any preimpact structural failure. The wing flaps were in the up position, and flight control continuity was established from the cockpit flight controls, to the breaks in the system which showed evidence of tensile overload and from the breaks in the system, to the mounting locations of the flight control surfaces.
Examination of the propeller revealed evidence of S-bending, leading edge gouging, and chordwise scratching. Examination of the engine's single stage axial flow propulsor utilizing a borescope revealed evidence of rotational scoring and reverse bending on multiple turbine blades.
Examination of the landing gear system revealed that the landing gear handle was in the down position however, the nose landing gear was in the "up" position. The left and right main landing gear were partially extended, and the left main landing gear leg was fractured into two pieces. Examination of the main landing gear doors indicated that the right main landing gear door was closed during the impact sequence and the left main landing gear door was open during the impact sequence. Examination of the hydraulic reservoir revealed it was not full, and only contained about 10 tablespoons of hydraulic fluid. During the examination, no leaks were discovered in the reservoir.
Further examination of the wreckage also revealed that the seat cushion for the right rear seat was displaced from its normal mounting position and an access panel which was located beneath that mounting location, and which would allow access to the main landing gear actuators, had been removed. Examination of the panel revealed scratch and pry marks on its topside, near one edge, and an open jackknife was discovered on the floor in close proximity to the panel.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/8/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1858 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Hartsville |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29550 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 342328N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0800616W |
| Event Location Airport | Hartsville Regional Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HVS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 136 |
| Airport Elevation | 364 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1855 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 316 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HVS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 364 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 15 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 24 2014 1:05PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N724HP |
| NTSB Number | ERA14FA144 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ROGERS GEORGE T |
| Aircraft Model | LANCAIR IVP |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | LIV-077 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AUTOMATION OF DELAWARE LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4610 HARTSVILLE HWY |
| Aircraft Owner City | SOCIETY HILL |
| Aircraft Owner State | SC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 29593-7606 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | George Thomas Rogers |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Society Hill |
| Operator State | SC |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 29593-7607 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | UDG |
| Departure City | Darlington |
| Departure State | SC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | UDG |
| Destination City | Darlington |
| Destination State | SC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 24 2014 1:06PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 03 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |