August 1st Sandersville, GA Accident Under Investigation

Two people are expected to survive injuries resultant of a Tuesday, 01 August 2023 accident in which a Velocity V-Twin, registration N106VT, was substantially damaged subsequent impact with marshy terrain in the vicinity of Sandersville, Georgia.

Witnesses reported the amateur-built Experimental-category aircraft departed Kaolin Field Airport (OKZ)—a public use airport two-statute-miles southwest of Sandersville, Georgia—at approximately 09:18 EDT.

Deputies of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office set forth the accident aircraft, while still climbing, experienced as-of-yet unknown difficulties approximately one-quarter mile from the airport. The Velocity’s pilot reportedly attempted a return to the departure runway, during which the aircraft precipitously lost altitude, coming to ground at approximately 09:20 EDT in a wooded/marshy area in the 2000 block of Kaolin Road.

The accident aircraft’s two occupants were seriously injured and air-lifted to separate hospitals in Macon and Augusta—each reportedly complaining of neck and back pain.

Washington County Sheriff Joel Cochran disclosed on Wednesday, 02 August that both victims were in stable condition and identified the individuals as pilot Daniel Mesnard, 67, of Florida, and passenger Timothy Fiser, 69, of Ohio.

The accident is being jointly investigated by the NTSB and FAA.

The standard Velocity V-Twin is a four-seat, twin-engine, homebuilt aircraft, designed by Velocity Aircraft of Sebastian, Florida. The flagship model of the Velocity Aircraft Line, the V-Twin features an aft mid-wing design and a forward canard. The aircraft’s engine-nacelles are integrated into the trailing edges of its wings and house aft-facing 160-horsepower Lycoming IO-320 4-cylinder horizontally-opposed reciprocating engines turning three-bladed MT pusher-propellers. As the Velocity V-Twin’s forward canard functions as an elevator, the aircraft’s empennage comprises only a vertical-stabilizer/rudder assembly. The machine’s undercarriage is of the retractable, tricycle variety.

This machine was the first of a series of 6 person configuration powered by two ULPower FADEC-equipped turbocharged engies developing 220hp. The aircraft and its owner were recently featured on an Oshkosh edition of Airborne and reported 185 knot cruise speeds for the aircraft.

Occupant ingress and egress is via twin gull-wing doors after the fashion of Mercedes Benz’s famed 300 SL coupe of the 1950s and early-‘60s. The Velocity V-Twin is flown via dual side-stick controllers.

The V-Twin’s designers sought to build an aircraft with the safety of redundant engines but free of the Vmc stall/spin risks typical of conventional twin-engine architectures. To actualize the antecedent aim, the Velocity V-Twin’s rear-facing pusher-propellers are mounted near the aircraft’s longitudinal axis, thereby reducing the aircraft’s tendency to yaw under the asymmetric thrust inherent single-engine operations.  

The very first Velocity V-Twin prototype was first flown on 13 March 2012.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov