Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Flagler County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Palm Coast, Florida 32164
Friday, October 3, 2014 9:35 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On October 3, 2014, about 0935 eastern daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Sonex Waiex, N461MM, owned and operated by a private individual, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain about 10 minutes after takeoff from the Flagler County Airport (XFL), Palm Coast, Florida. The private pilot was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the local personal flight that was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
According to initial information from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the all-metal, "Y-tail," two-seat monoplane was built by the pilot from a kit that was purchased during September 2010, and issued an FAA special airworthiness certificate on January 15, 2013. The airplane was equipped with an 80-horsepower 2180 AeroVee engine, and had been based at XFL for about 6 months.
According to FAA radar data, the airplane departed XFL about 0925, and flew to the northeast. According to the pilot's son, when the pilot failed to meet a family member on the evening of October 3rd, local authorities were contacted. The pilot's car was subsequently found in front of his hangar at XFL. The hangar doors were open and the pilot's son believed the pilot most likely elected to take a local solo flight in the airplane, which he had not flown solo previously. Radar data and cell phone "pings" were utilized to help determine the airplane's location. The airplane was subsequently found on October 4th, in a tidal marsh near Pellicer Creek, about 13 miles north-northwest of XFL. The majority of the airplane was buried in mud/water, with the empennage and portions of structure associated with both wings visible.
The airplane was subsequently recovered on October 9th, and was retained for examination to be performed at a later date.
A witness located in a residential community about 2.5 miles south of the accident site reported that he observed a white/silver single-engine airplane flying overhead sometime between 0900 and 1000. The airplane was approximately 1,000 feet above the ground, and flying to the north when it experienced a sudden, complete loss of engine power. The airplane turned to the left and completed two circular patterns before disappearing from his view. He did not hear any engine noise or sounds associated with an accident, and assumed that the pilot of the airplane performed a successful emergency landing to a nearby former golf course.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/3/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 935 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Palm Coast |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32164 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 293914N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0811621W |
| Event Location Airport | Flagler County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | XFL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 11 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 345 |
| Airport Elevation | 33 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 950 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 345 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | XFL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 33 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 11 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern C-ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 15 2014 2:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N461MM |
| NTSB Number | ERA15FA003 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MILLER RAYMOND A |
| Aircraft Model | SONEX WAIEX |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | NO SERIES |
| Aircraft Serial Number | W0156 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| 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 | Raymond Miller |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fort Pierce |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34949 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Raymond Miller |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Fort Pierce |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 34949 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | XFL |
| Departure City | Palm Coast |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 925 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | XFL |
| Destination City | Palm Coast |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 15 2014 12:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | schl |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |