AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2015 - 74

This accident qualifies as a
landmark because the pilot, Steve
Appleton, was a celebrity CEO
running the Fortune 500 Micron
Corporation, a major manufacturer of semiconductors. His
notoriety resulted in media discussion and considerable backlash
regarding the safety of general
aviation and whether CEOs should
be allowed to participate.
And 2015 is the year that the
NTSB has chosen to focus on
stalls and loss of control. While it
seems so basic, it remains elusive
for too many pilots. This scenario,
in some form, could happen to any
of us. Will you be ready?
THE FLIGHT

February 3, 2012, dawned bright
and clear with light winds in
Boise, Idaho. At 8:46 a.m. the
Experimental Lancair IV-PT
began its takeoff roll on the 9,763foot runway. It climbed to about 60
feet before touching back down.
The pilot stated he was going to
"land here and stop. We got a problem." The controller asked if he
needed any assistance. The pilot
responded, "Negative, I'm going
to taxi back and see if I can figure
it out."
The pilot returned to his hangar area and performed some
run-up activities. About nine minutes later, he asked to stay in the
traffic pattern for a "couple laps."
The aircraft departed Runway 10R
again, climbing to about 300 feet.
Witnesses saw the aircraft roll
left while rapidly losing altitude.
The airplane completed about
one revolution and hit terrain in a
nose-low attitude. 
The NTSB report stated: "At
08:55:44, the pilot made his last
intelligible transmission when
he requested that he would "like
to turn back in and, uh, land, coming back in, uh, three." There was
74 | AOPA PILOT March 2015

a subsequent fire, which the pilot
did not survive.
Based on simulations of the
accident flight and witness statements, it is likely that the pilot
was attempting to return to a runway and did not lower the nose to
maintain flying speed. The crash
signature showed the airplane was
spinning on impact.
THE PILOT

Steve Appleton could be described
as a risk taker. He participated in
motocross, skydiving, racecar driving, and flying high-performance
airplanes-including the Extra
300, Aero Vodochody L29 (Sovietera jet trainer), Hawker Hunter (a
British 1950s single-seat fighter),
and the Cessna Citation. He also
was involved in an aerobatic accident in July 2004 and, according
to the NTSB, "did not allow adequate clearance from the ground."
Appleton served on the
national semiconductor technology council and was a leader in
that industry.
His total flight time was estimated at about 3,500 hours, and
flight time in the IV-PT at less than
14 hours. There was no evidence
that Appleton had received any
formal instruction in the Lancair,
although his insurance company
had requested it.
THE AIRCRAFT

This Lancair IV-PT, a composite,
pressurized turboprop, received
its Experimental airworthiness
certificate in 2007. (The -PT
stands for pressurized, turbine.
Lancair marketed the airplane as
a Jetprop, and it has erroneously
been called a IV-TP, most notably
in the NTSB report.) It had been
significantly modified from the
original design, including a higherhorsepower engine and larger fuel
system.

Lancair's recommended maximum gross takeoff weight was
3,550 pounds, and aircraft documentation showed a maximum
allowable gross takeoff weight
of 4,300 pounds. The NTSB estimated the accident aircraft's
takeoff weight at 3,837 pounds,
and within center of gravity limits.
The FAA allows amateur builders
to set weight limits at any value
they desire, but they must determine and document stall speeds.
No such documentation was found
for this aircraft.
The pilot purchased the aircraft fewer than two months
before the accident. He had noted
to a lineman that he liked the
speed but described the handling
as "squirrelly." It's not an uncommon scenario for the subsequent
buyer of an amateur-built machine
to crash shortly after taking ownership. The builder generally
knows the quirks and has spent
much time learning the aircraft.
The aircraft was equipped with
electronic flight instrumentation,
which survived the post-crash
fire and was able to provide much
detail regarding engine and flight
performance.
A former engineer and general manager of the manufacturer
stated that if the engine failed
during takeoff, airspeed decayed
rapidly and the nose had to be
lowered quickly to maintain flying speed. If no action is taken,
the aircraft would remain in a
nose-up attitude and would stall
in about five seconds, resulting in a
simultaneous wing drop, and stall
recovery was considered unlikely
below 1,500 feet agl.
According to the NTSB, "A
former [Lancair] employee further stated that a pilot could
not use full engine power during takeoff because the IV-PT
was not designed for such a



AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2015

Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2015 - Cover1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2015 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2015 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2015 - 2
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2015 - 4
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2015 - 109
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2015 - 110
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2015 - 112
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2015 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2015 - Cover4
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