At 1510 mountain time, the pilot of an amateur-built Lancair 235 lost control during an aborted landing on runway 24 at Payson Airport. The pilot was killed. A witness said the pilot had bought the airplane two days earlier and was planning to conduct fast taxi tests. On the second test, the airplane became airborne and the pilot departed the airport. Other witnesses said they saw the accident airplane make two approaches that culminated in go-arounds, and on each approach the airplane displayed pitch deviations. On the third approach, the airplane landed hard about 1,500 feet down the runway. It bounced into the air, landed back on the runway, and the engine powered up to abort the landing. The witnesses the saw the airplanes nose pitch up, pitch down and crash. A review of the pilots logbook revealed the pilot had no Lancair flight time and had not flown since May.
December 28, Payson, Ariz. / Lancair 235
At 1510 mountain time, the pilot of an amateur-built Lancair 235 lost control during an aborted landing on runway 24 at Payson Airport. The pilot was killed. A witness said the pilot had bought the airplane two days earlier and was planning to conduct fast taxi tests. On the second test, the airplane became airborne and the pilot departed the airport. Other witnesses said they saw the accident airplane make two approaches that culminated in go-arounds, and on each approach the airplane displayed pitch deviations. On the third approach, the airplane landed hard about 1,500 feet down the runway. It bounced into the air, landed back on the runway, and the engine powered up to abort the landing....
Key Takeaways:
- An amateur-built Lancair 235 crashed fatally during an aborted landing at Payson Airport following a hard touchdown.
- Witnesses observed multiple approaches with pitch deviations and the aircraft became airborne during initial "fast taxi tests."
- The pilot had recently purchased the aircraft, lacked specific Lancair flight time, and had not flown for several months prior to the accident.
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