Plane Crashed On Approach To Land 

In its Preliminary Report issued last week on the fatal April 16 crash of a homebuilt Wheeler Express near Lakeland-Linder Regional Airport in Florida, the National Transportation Safety Board notes the pilot of the accident aircraft was advised by controllers to not overshoot a base-to-final turn to Runway 27R.

As Aero-News reported, the aircraft (file photo of type, right) was on approach to land at LAL when it descended and impacted a vacant building less than one-half mile from the runway. Both the pilot and passenger onboard the two-seat aircraft were killed.

The NTSB notes "[a]ccording to preliminary air traffic control information, the airplane entered a right downwind for runway 27R, and the pilot was advised to turn base, and not overshoot the runway. The flight was then cleared to land on runway 27R.

"While turning base to final, witnesses observed the airplane enter a descend [sic] and descend nearly vertical. While descending, the airplane collided with a tree then the ground. One witness reported to the FAA inspector-in-charge (FAA-IIC) hearing the engine rev-up before impact, while another witness reported to the FAA-IIC hearing a sputtering sound from the engine.

"The accident site was located approximately .47 nautical mile and 112 degrees from the approach end of runway 27L," the report states.

The NTSB report does not mention weather conditions at the time of the accident. ANN staffers on the ground at LAL for the start of the 2007 Lakeland Fly-In noted a brisk quartering headwind on the ground at the time of the accident, at roughly 300 degrees.

Runway 9L/27R is normally Taxiway Alpha, but is called into duty as a parallel runway for small-to-medium-size aircraft during the annual fly-in.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov