Primary finding
Probable cause
The pilot's excessive rotation and failure to obtain adequate airspeed which resulted in an inadvertent stall and inflight collision with the terrain. A factor was the pilot's inexperience in the type aircraft.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
The pilot was conducting the initial test flight in an experimental airplane he had built. According to witnesses, during the takeoff, the airplane lifted off, descended, bounced on the runway and then became airborne again. The aircraft pitched to a nose high attitude, rolled left, descended and impacted on the runway, where it came to rest inverted, off the left side of the runay. The pilot had no previous experience in type.
Source record
Factual narrative
On Tuesday, June 8, 1993, at 1900 eastern daylight time, an experimental Seahawk, N5857X, built and piloted by Mr. Henry J. Camacho, of Lowell, Massachusetts, struck the ground in a descent, after takeoff at Orange Municipal Airport, Orange, Massachusetts. The airplane was destroyed by the impact and post crash fire. The pilot received serious injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the flight operating under 14 CFR 91. Due to the serious nature of his injuries, the pilot was unable to complete the NTSB Accident Report. Mr. William D. Wicks, an Air Safety Inspector, with the Windsor Locks Flight Standards District Office, conducted an examination of the accident site. In a written report, Mr. Wicks stated: ...A review of the video of Mr. Camacho and N5857X attempting to takeoff, immediately prior to the crash revealed to several Aviation Safety Inspectors, assigned to the NE-FSDO-03, that the aircraft demonstrated significant instability at and immediately following rotation. This instability is strongly believed to be attributed to an excessive amount of aft CG [Center of Gravity] which caused the nose of the aircraft to pitch up rapidly and cause the aircraft to become uncontrollable. Investigation of the wreckage of N5857X revealed that all flight control cables were intact.... In a telephone interview, Mr. Wicks said that witnesses reported the airplane became airborne, bounced on the runway, and became airborne again in a nose high pitch attitude. The airplane then rolled left, descended, and struck the runway, coming to rest inverted, off the left side of the runway, and burned. Mr. Wicks also said the airplane maintenance records were on board the airplane and burned in the accident. According to FAA records, the pilot held a private pilot certificate and had approximately 300 hours flight time. According to Mr. Wicks, this was the airplane's initial test flight, and the pilot had no experience in this type of airplane. -