January RV-7 accident update

[Tom Martin]

This is a follow up to this thread regarding the accident that took Andrew Phillips life, January 24, 2101 http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=53496&highlight=andrew+phillips

Gary Wolf the president of the Recreational Aircraft Association of Canada, RAA, attended a meeting with TSB officials to discuss recreational aircraft accidents in general and they discussed the RV7 accident that we are all interested in. The final report is months out but they let Gary circulate the following information as it should reassure us that there was no fault with the aircraft design. Here are Gary’s comments on what was presented to him.

"RV-7A Fatality
In January there was a fatal crash in an RV-7A near Ottawa and TSB has investigated this one thoroughly. The plane had an EFIS and a cockpit mounted video camera, and TSB has produced a computer simulation of the flight path of the plane and its instrument panel. Many RV builders have had concerns because there have been rumours that the tail came off the plane in flight and have wondered how this could have happened with an RV.
My own observation of the simulation is that the plane was doing a series of Dutch Rolls, at times rolling near or over 90 degrees. It then levelled the wings and entered a dive, with the panel showing that it reached an airspeed of 234 Knots. At that airspeed the plane then abruptly rolled right and flew into the ground. Physical evidence showed that both spars of the vertical stab broke near the line of the turtle deck, with only the lower section of the rudder remaining attached by its cables.
The speed of 234 Knots is far in excess of the manoeuvring speed and the Vne of an RV-7A.
Gary Wolf"

 

[boom3]

Thanks for the update Tom. I'd just been wondering about that accident.

 

[RickWoodall]

Thanks

Tom, thanks for the info. I knew Andrew and his family and am happy to hear some further info here on what preceded the accident. The rumours of bird strikes, structural failures etc were all troubling.

Rick

 

[lostpilot28]

Thanks, Tom. I'm a bit confused by what you saw, possibly because I can't imagine the sequence of events without further explanation.

First, moderators, if this is out of line, please feel free to remove it.

Tom, I'm curious about the Dutch Rolls. I can't tell from your post if they were assumed that the pilot was maneuvering that way for fun, or trying to control an aircraft that lost it's VS. My first thought is the latter.

 

[C-GRVT]

Hopefully the TSB report will have more to offer

I think the narrative offered simply raises questions.
It seems most unlikely that Andrew performed a series of dutch rolls and then under control placed his aircraft in a wings level dive and allowed the speed to increase to 234 knots. The aircraft may have entered a dive that continued unchecked but the question remains why, and whether a failure of structure was a contributing cause or a result.
Hopefully the TSB report will have more to offer.
Bill Brooks
Ottawa, Canada
RV-6A finishing kit

 

[Ironflight]

Since this is really kind of second-hand information, and an observation taken out of context of a yet-unfinished report, I'd like to suggest that we continue to avoid speculating (for all the reasons that we don't speculate on accidents here on the forums), and am going to close the thread. Otherwise, we'll end up with theories ranging from sun spots to alien abduction, and that just doesn't serve anyone. We've waited this long - we can wait for the complete report, don't you think?

Paul