Event NYC03LA090

Factual narrative

On April 27, 2003, at 1330 eastern daylight time, an amateur built Quickie Q-200, N1V, was destroyed while departing from the Henderson City-County Airport, Henderson, Kentucky. The certificated private pilot was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. According to witnesses, the pilot had performed several hours of high-speed taxi runs with the accident airplane before the day of the accident. On the day of the accident, the pilot again performed high-speed taxi tests, and determined that the engine "sounded good and the airplane handled steady." The accident flight was the first flight for the airplane. As the airplane departed from runway 9, a 5,504-foot long, 75-foot wide, asphalt runway, it climbed to an altitude of about 30 feet, and began to porpoise. It then descended towards the runway, touched down hard, and the propeller struck the asphalt. The airplane bounced back into the air, and traveled for a short distance, before touching down hard again. It then veered off the left side of the runway, rolled over on it's left side, and came to rest inverted. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector examined the accident site and airplane wreckage on April 28, 2003. He observed the airplane's first impact with the ground was about 656 feet from the takeoff point. The airplane then rolled for about 30 feet, before the propeller struck the runway surface about 20 times. The airplane continued for another 60 feet, and became airborne again. About 1,174 feet from the initial takeoff point, the airplane again struck the runway surface with the left canard. The airplane veered to the left, off the side of the runway, across a taxiway, and came to rest inverted in a grass field. A post crash fire ensued and consumed the wreckage. Inspection of the remaining wreckage after the post-crash fire, revealed no abnormalities with the engine or airframe. The winds recorded at the airport, about the time of accident, were from 120 degrees at 5 knots. The accident flight was the first flight for the airplane. As the airplane departed, it climbed to an altitude of about 30 feet, and began to porpoise. It then descended towards the runway, touched down hard, and the propeller struck the asphalt. The airplane bounced back into the air, and traveled for a short distance, before touching down hard again. It then veered off the left side of the runway, rolled over on it's left side, and came to rest inverted. A post crash fire ensued and consumed the wreckage. According to witnesses, the pilot had performed several hours of high-speed taxi runs with the accident airplane before the day of the accident. On the day of the accident, the pilot again performed high-speed taxi tests, and determined that the engine "sounded good and the airplane handled steady." Inspection of the wreckage revealed no abnormalities with the engine or airframe. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12