Eight Days After Reported First Flight, Adventure Amphib Goes
Down
The details are sketchy... but an Adventure Air Amphibian (file
photo below), the source of much controversy in years past due to
unethical business practices by it's designer, one well-documented
(and fatal) mid-air break-up and other concerns, went down
Friday, some eight days after its reported first flight.
Pilot Paul Douglas, of Norfolk, MA, was flying solo in N469PD
when it went down. The aircraft departed North Central Airport (in
Rhode Island), shortly before 1700 (local time) and flew some two
miles from the airport before going down. The aircraft impacted
near an occupied shopping mall and was reported (by the FAA) to
have made no radio calls before the accident. No reasons for the
crash have been reported, but the aircraft burned on impact.
According to online reports attributed to Mr. Douglas, the
aircraft first flew early in the morning of October 21st, and some
control issues ("heavy" wing, etc.) were reported during a short
but successful first flight. The aircraft was reported to use an
automotive powerplant and have an empty weight of 2350 pounds. The
aircraft was placed on the Federal Registry in February of this
year.
There are but a handful of this type of aircraft flying... of
which two have now crashed with fatal results while another
was involved in a "Taxi" accident. The Adventure Air Amphibian line
became well-known several years ago after a series of customer
complaints revealed that "designer" Happy Miles (a.k.a John Anthony
Mihaylo) took a number of deposits for kit aircraft that were
either never delivered or only partially fulfilled. Mihaylo/Miles
had been associated with a number of failed projects over the years
and developed a fairly poor reputation for honesty, credibility and
ethical behavior. In August of 1997, one of the few flying kits
that saw completion departed the Oshkosh EAA Fly-In and came apart
over Fond Du Lac, killing the pilot (see NTSB link below).
The NTSB report
concluded that the airplane suffered the loss of the horizontal
stabilizer, elevator, rudder, both wings, and a portion of the
vertical stabilizer. Subsequent to the accident an examination of
the structure revealed insufficient material attaching the
horizontal stabilizer to the vertical stabilizer. An examination of
six other similar airplanes under construction found evidence of a
lack of quality controls in manufacturing, technique, failure to
follow published construction manuals and guidelines, and general
oversight by the kit supplier/manufacturer. Discussions with one of
the NTSB investigators in this accident revealed his wholly
negative impression of the aircraft, as "one of the worst (kit
aircraft) I've ever seen."
A builder's group has hired outside help to update and modify
the design to see if it can be made safe to fly... but reports
differ as to whether or not this effort has seen any success. More
info to follow.
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