new RV-9A flips after emergency landing

Last Monday evening at the Penticton, B.C. airport, local TV station CHBC (google their website for the broadcast) reported an incident involving an RV9a. 71 year old Ron Tuttle from the Kelowna, B.C. area in his newly built aircraft had his engine quit on him on take off at what witnesses say was about 600 feet. (30 hours in to phase one) He made it back parallel to the runway but his emergency situation left him landing beside the runway, on the grass. (Now, this is the airport that I fly out of and although I have never walked this grassy area, all I can say about it is, that it is kept mowed.) Obviously, landed deadstick, hard, which had some impact on the nose gear. The 9a subsequently flipped over on to it's back causing relatively little damage to the plane but injuries to Mr. Tuttle are quite severe, as he split open the back of his head. Apparently he was rescued and resusitated by EMS smoke jumpers on the scene moments after the accident but unfortunatly is still in a coma.
I am not posting this to fan the flames of RV *a flip-overs. Just FYI.
Now, Our prayers go out to his family at this difficult time.

Lets all be careful out there.

Good Luck & Gods Speed Mr. Tuttle.

Prayers for Mr. Tuttle.

b,
d

2 for the price of one

Related video: http://www.chbc.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=14437

Watch the whole video. It reports two airplanes flipping over after landing; the RV-7A and an unidentified Cessna.

According to the official report, it was an RV-9A:

Date: 2007/07/10
Further Action Required: No
O.P.I.: General Aviation
Narrative: UPDATE / Add Info from TSB: A07P0220: The Van's RV-9A was in the circuit at Penticton, BC when the engine stopped. During the forced landing on an area adjacent to the runway, the aircraft nosed over injuring the pilot and incurring substantial damage.

User Name: Samson, Donna
Date: 2007/07/10
Further Action Required: No
O.P.I.: General Aviation
Narrative: The privately-registered amateur-built Vans RV9A, VFR Penticton to Penticton, was reported to have crashed attempting to land after an engine failure. The TSB/Transport Canada Security advised the pilot took off from Penticton, experienced an engine failure, and returned to the field. The pilot was on a down wind leg, landed on the grass, and flipped over. The aircraft crashed into the southeast quadrant of the airport. The pilot was initially reported to have succombed to his injuries but a subsequent report was received that the pilot was revived. The TSB will not be conducting an investigation (Class 5 only).

To be fair, the Cessna was a floatplane.

Ron will be in my prayers.

I met Mr. Tuttle three weeks ago while I was enroute to Victoria BC. He was sitting on the ramp in his new RV9 getting ready for another test flight. I think he said he had 20 hours on the plane at that time. It was my first time in the mountains and he took the time to explain the area and some things to watch out for on the next leg of my journey.
When we took off that day I thought to myself that there could not possilby be a worse place to have to fly off the 25 hour test period. This is a narrow valley maybe twenty miles long. The Penticton airport has a lake on either end of it and you can not fly a circuit on the west side of the runway because there is a mountain in the way. He did extremely well to get back to the airport. I tied my airplane down in the area he must have landed in and it was level but hard packed sandy ground with sparse grass. The following is a picture I took of the runway as we were at 10,000 feet, turning west over the mountains.
My best wishes go to Mr. Tuttle and his family.

Emergency landing

My best wishes for a speedy and full recovery.

We all hope for a speedy recovery.

I was also flying that day near Penticton in my 9A. On my way South past MacIntyre Bluff, I hit a severe gust that caused both my pax and myself to hit the top of the canopy.

Thinking it over, and hearing about Mr. Tuttle's accident, I realized that I have been routinely flying with my seatbelt too loose. In a flip-over or turbulence, it's easy to hit the canopy with your head.

Now, I cinch my belts tight when I fly.

In our formation team, one of our pilots wears a helmet when he flys. His aircraft actually did flip over on an off-airport landing when his daughter was flying. That probably was a consideration in his decision, as well as a bingo fuel incident. Guess what his nickname is?

Vern

Sad Info

I'm new here, and really hate to post this..

http://www.springfieldfuneralhome.com/obituaries/obit_view.php?obit_id=1263

Rest in Peace.