Tragic

Judging by the extensive wear and overall poor condition of the engine, I'd say gross negligence played a major role in the crash.

General Aviation is a frivolous waste, erodes the environment, and puts the public at risk

Imagine that! That AI’s gonna loose his ticket

Will Ferrell in wedding crashers comes to mind. So incredibly dangerous those powered kites are. And without certification and standards and training…this is going to be continuous. Very sad.

Unless the rules have changed, an ultralight cannot carry passengers. In order to do so it must be registered, approved as E-LSA, have an N-number, and be flown by an appropriately certificated pilot.

A+

Classic approach turn stall. Airspeed, airspeed airspeed...watch that aob!

FAFO!

Bob Hoover was the best at managing energy!

NOTAM. If the engine has glue holding the cylinder heads on do not attempt flight.

This is insane! The fricking lobe is about gone! How could this decrease in power not been detected by the pilot at run up? 1:28

WTF IS THAT SHIT! Holy crap!!! 1:23

There is no way this engine would have achieved the minimum static rpm during the ground run for the last annual inspection.

The engine damage took more than 40 hours of running time. The tanning along the cam lobe, like minute 1:30 takes many hours and it required heat. The silicon or epoxy on the cylinder base, minute 1:22 also shows us time is involved and there must have been some oil "weeping" at the Cyl base .... Bad idea, it doesn't really top the weeping, just kinda slows and redirects it. I've used all these tricks over the years. The cam issue would be so obvious, the power loss is obvious, esp as you gain altitude. Just putting a vacuum gauge on it would tell you everything. The engine oil would have so much crud in it.

Like boaters, too many people operating them with limited knowledge.

Flying is fun until it isn't !

The sharper the turn the bigger the decrease in lift. You should definitely keep tight turns to a minimum!

Many years ago my first solo was at Reid-Hillview on a cloudy morning, in one of Amelia's old L-2s. We called it "Death from Above"...haha. Anyway, I'll never forget the advice I got while working up to that solo. Instructor put his arm over my shoulder as I sat in the front seat after lifting off and pointed straight over the cowling at the terrain beyond the fence (which is probably all filled with structures now) and said loudly over the engine noise..."You see that? If the engine quits, that's where you go!" Those were simpler times. No cell phones. Great stick-and-rudder pilots willing to teach the kids. And old, fabric-covered taildraggers that smelled like av-gas. I'll also never forget the day I came in before I got my ticket and did a fancy wheel landing. After I tied the L-2 down little Amelia Reid walked up to me in the office and stuck her finger in my chest and loudly said, "NO WHEEL LANDINGS!" From then on I was a 3-point guy. If I couldn't put a taildragger down on all three I needed to go land someplace else. Never failed me.

When the owner fails to maintain the aircraft, this is what happens....what an idiot.😮.

Too steep a turn, too low and too slow equals disaster.

I trust rental airplanes about as far as I can throw them, especially in this economy. I own my own so my exposure to them is very limited. While mine was in annual, parts to be replaced taking longer than expected, I was in a position to rent a Cessna 210. Right off, my preflight was 3x what ordinarily would occur. I found two issues that were unacceptable, ended up on a commercial flight. A few months later the flight school, rental company was closed for several FAA issues. It’s your life, don’t take it for granted that airplane rental companies are all service compliant.

Somewhere out there someone is repeating this same lack of maintenance.

I bet this was another foreign pilot?

That JB Weld is good stuff.

Just remember....for every takeoff there is always a landing!

Whoever examined the oil filter for metal did not do it properly. The metal from spalling is very fine. You need to let the filter that is removed drain and then wash it in gas or solvent. Then examin under a bright sunny daylight. Just a dime dize of metal calls for the engine to be opened up.

runway left behind

no maintenance,, period

Some one failed to inspect that engine or did not liked to therm TBO. Time between overhaul. SB or not applicable the rocker arm check is mandatory according the engine manual. The SB is only adding information. I wonder why mechanics and authorised inspectors are not pulling a straight line.

Will the insurance company pay out considering poor flying and poor maintenance?

I become more convinced every time I watch one of these accidents due to a pilot’s neglect to maintain a proper angle of attack that we should mandate that pilots receive a glider rating before going on to powered aircraft. It’s the same thing every time: A surprise loss of power followed by the pilot doing all sorts of counterproductive things to try to maintain altitude. I admit I am biased because I flew sailplanes for many years, but sailplane pilots are experts at understanding and managing an aircraft’s energy and angle of attack, often just a few knots above the stall and at steep bank angles (as during thermaling). We understand what actually keeps the aircraft in the air (and it’s not the engine), and are not rattled by forced landings because every landing is a forced landing in a glider, and there are no go arounds. I’ve just seen too many power-only pilots who depend entirely on that engine, to the point that they neglect proper control coordination (rudder?…what’s that?) and just let the engine drag them around the sky. When that engine quits, and ESPECIALLY if you’re going to try to turn back to the airport, you need to be PERFECTLY coordinated on the controls to minimize drag. You also need to understand that it is primarily pitch attitude that determines angle of attack (with some modification due to the thrust vector, but we’re not talking F-16s here). Thinking that everything depends on thrust is what causes pilots to not dump the nose quickly enough after power loss, or worse to pull back on the yoke. Sailplane pilots learn from the very first lesson that if you are, for example, trying to clear a fence at the edge of an airfield, unless you are carrying excess airspeed you want to lower the nose and point at it rather than pull back on the stick, trying fruitlessly to avoid sinking. There are just way too many of these stall and stall/spin accidents, implying a systemic lack of understanding of basic aerodynamics and a lack of adequate judgment. These pilots need to understand the basics of lift, drag, and gravity, before they add in the element of thrust. It’s obvious many don’t. They also need to learn initially in an environment that demands a high level of precision on the controls, excellent judgment, and understanding at all times of an aircraft’s energy state. They’re clearly not receiving that and are learning to obsess too much on the throttle. Put them in gliders first! Britain requires it, as do some other European countries. It can only produce better pilots.

I took the video of the plane taking off. I Believe I only shared it with the FAA. I wonder how this surfaced.

Impossible turn wins again

Good job linking to the report and the docket - thanks for that. Sure the old engine was worn out and not producing rated power, but the sudden loss of power was caused by something else, like carb ice? I know it's considered rare or unlikely in Lycoming engines, but it can happen. Perhaps the throttle or mixture levers were not held in place and vibrated back? Sudden reduction in power does not happen due to cam lobe wear. Also, there were three people in the aircraft - was this the first time that this pilot flew with 3 people, and was not sure what level of performance to expect? Many unanswered questions.

Well, at least not a stall spin for a change.

Fetzer valve maintenance issue 💯

I've lost count of the number of crash vids caused by pilots trying to turn with a wonky engine at too slow an airspeed and stalling the inside wing instead of heeding the warning that's as old as aviation itself- "NEVER TURN BACK", just land straight ahead in a field if there is one.

I didnt realize how low they were until the impact. I was not expecting that.

A MacDonalds pilot.

Service Bulletin was not mandatory. Pilot made a big mistake by thinking that he didn’t need it.

Interesting. Mike Busch, in his infinite wisdom, has assured us that Cam lobe spalling is of no concern and has never even the cause of an accident. I guess he was wrong.

Common lycoming problem if the engine was sitting for a while between overhaul and now. The cam/lifters dry out from being at the top of the engine and start to pit/corrode first. As soon as that hardened layer on the lifter is compromised they get chewed up fast. That proseal/rtv around the base of the cylinder is completely inexcusable however, and it was painted over, which tells me that was done at the "overhaul." Ooof.

Nothing is worse than a low altitude stall. Maintain flying speed and control, even if you can't make it back to the runway. I thought everyone learned that before their first solo.

It appeared that the accident pilot began to get behind the eight ball from the get-go. He fell further and further behind his lead as the show progressed. Maybe that was suppose to happen??? I don't know. I hope this is the end of night, close formation, low altitude aerobatics.

Gravity played a major role in the cause of this crash.

Folks, of your a private pilot, .EVER pull the yoke back and try to climb, ever, pitch nose down to maintain speed and fly it to the controlled crash, its far better than a stall a d then dropping like a rock.

When you cannot climb or maintain altitude, turning is the worst thing to do.

The ole impossible turn….

*I'm going to share what was hammered into my head when I was working towards getting my private pilot certificate. A situation like this is going to catch the majority of pilots off guard. As part of my before take off checklist I was taught to review the procedures of what to do if a loss of engine power or total failure occurred during the take off roll or initial climbout. If failure happens after becoming airborne you are to immediately push the nose over to a wings level attitude, then establish the glide ratio airspeed, and put the aircraft down straight ahead. This is the best way to avoid an unrecoverable stall.*