AU-1 Corsair is down.... 2019

[Pogo]

Well it's a bent wing bird for sure now. I'm just delighted (as always in such cases as this) that the personnel is good for telling granny about it.

[OD/NG]

Final NTSB accident report on this is out:

https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/ ... /99515/pdf

Accident docket with lots of good info, including videos of the crash:

https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=99515

Does anyone know the status of this aircraft? Is it being rebuilt?

[sandiego89]

Thanks for posting OD/NG

Yikes, another incident due to "get there-itus". Attempted takeoff with a known carburetor issue in order to "get to the airshow".

[lucky52]

So does anybody think this aircraft signed off to be in an "airworthy" condition after the annual inspection ? No dog in this fight, just curious.

[EW439]

!

Last edited by EW439 on Wed May 25, 2022 7:23 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[lucky52]

Thanks EW439.

[marine air]

How many crashes and bang ups does this make? I know of two in the Bearcat , plus this one. He joins the ranks of U.S. Naval Aircraft operators, right up there with Jon McCain (6) and Pappy Boyington who tore up many aircraft.

[CAPFlyer]

Since the aircraft had a EXPERIMENTAL airworthiness certificate it was a condition inspection which are not signed off as airworthy.
I know the NTSB report states it was in for an annual inspection, that is not a correct statement.

I know it can get confused with a Certificated Aircraft Annual Inspection, but since the condition inspection is listed in most ops specs and documents as an ANNUAL Condition Inspection, I disagree that it's "not a correct statement".

But to the other question - while an Annual Condition Inspection may not have the same level of "authority" in a lot of respects, a mechanic can certainly ground an aircraft if the "condition" of the aircraft is found to be un-Airworthy.

[phil65]

I thought only an FAA airworthiness inspector could ground an aircraft.

Phil

[lucky52]

Was that his Corsair?

[Dave Hadfield]

Aircraft without a normal C of A (Homebuilt, Experimental) still have Annual Inspections. It's a regulatory requirement.

And it's a very sensible one -- I just did the Annual on our RV6a. The procedure is exactly the same as for a certified aircraft. For good reason.

It's worth saying that most carbs have an enrichment circuit at takeoff power. More fuel is added in to keep the temps down. If the airplane is burping and farting on the takeoff roll as if it's running too lean, opening up past the enrichment gate is a viable option.

[EW439]

?

[bdk]

The pilot is the final authority on airworthiness, regardless of what the mechanic says.

[CAPFlyer]

I would argue that a pilot who fails to heed a finding of unairworthy by a mechanic or the FAA doesn't change that an aircraft is unairworthy or grounded. We had an airplane at Wichita Falls that had been "grounded" by the FAA, NTSB, and Gulfstream. But the "grounding" was nothing more than a piece of paper put on the airplane by the FAA that said it was grounded and a couple ribbons put on the airplane by Gulfstream. Had the owners really wanted to, they certainly could have flown it (it flew in...after having dual flameouts at 40,000 feet...but it still flew in), but it doesn't change that the plane was legally grounded. The reason I bring it up here is that the NTSB's finding doesn't mention anything about the mechanic having told the pilot the plane was or should be grounded, just that he said the carb wasn't quite working right. That's where I have the concern, especially since his diagnosis of the problem was not correct.

[lucky52]

Does anybody know if can be rebuilt or was it a total? Maybe it could be a static display somewhere.