Steve Mensch RV-12iS Crash 6 Dec 2024

[@blancolirio]

UPDATE: No fuel available at CDK- " From the flight log, we know that Steve flew a 39 minute flight at my airport on 12/5 but didn’t buy gas (working on confirming that with my local connections). After that he flew to CDK (which has no fuel), 1:58, on 12/6. Then from there on the last flight, 2:11. I’m thinking with the total flight time of 4:48 he was (possibly) out of gas. "

[@oneseeker2]

Distraction

[@navion1946]

@@blancolirio 💔your probably right. No fire either.

[@andrewmurray6912]

Flight pattern consistent with looking for somewhere to get down, in the dark, before fuel exhaustion. At those low airspeeds in a low inertia airframe and possibly in a turn, - the time between loss of power and stall is seconds

[@skraack]

This would also explain his altitude up and down / erratic near the end. His engine could have been sputtering and regaining some fuel pressure with the nose down.

[@FreshTillDeath56]

Damn. That sucks.

[@michaelhoffmann2891]

"showing some kids how to build airplanes". While not wanting to distract from the topic, I salute you in bringing another generation to aviation and engineering! Need more like you!

[@homomorphic]

Another head scratcher. Seems to have been responsible in selecting a modest aircraft as I am sure he could have afforded something completely outside of his depth. So seems he had a reasonable attitude to flying

[@donc9751]

I agree its very cool that Juan is introducing young kids/teens to experiences in aviation that so many would never have the opportunity to be involved with airplanes and aviation!!! Juan is a very good man and mentor!!!

[@blancolirio]

Thanks!

[@thatguy7085]

EAA is very big on training kids how to work on airplanes, not just fly them.

[@tn8402]

Wow! How do you have time to do all this! Kudos!

[@ESGFishing]

I work on a commercial fishing boat right offshore of homosassa it was clear night calm skies

[@nollansmiith]

I work the line at FFC where Steve was based. Talked to him once or twice in passing and fueled his RV a few times. He was a very nice gentleman, only ever heard good things about him. Condolences to his family and friends.

[@Jester01]

What fuel did he use? Somebody commented that the RV can run on automotive fuel as well.

[@ansonstelmak9783]

Thanks for sharing Blanc,but soo sorryful for pilot Steve. Makes every active pilot remember, they must learn from Steve’s loss!

[@nollansmiith]

⁠@@Jester01 We’ve given him 100LL Avgas. I believe the Rotax he had installed can also use regular unleaded gasoline as well however, we only offer 100LL and Jet A at FFC.

[@DaveVenable-l9r]

Blanco, I consider myself Steve’s best friend and also helped him build his RV 12 in Peachtree City, Georgia. I would welcome your help in getting the story correct on Steve’s accident.

[@m777howitzer4]

I'm sorry for your loss of a dear friend. I hope Juan See's your comment.

[@homomorphic]

@@DaveVenable-l9r sorry for your loss.

[@martinolssonbass]

Sorry for your loss!

[@carolinelvsewe]

Condolences Mr Venable. Juan has an amazing channel and is quite thorough. He of course wants info to be correct. Rest in peace , Steve.

[@youtubeis...]

He was out of fuel possibly

[@kqschwarz]

I watch your videos religiously. I am not a pilot; I am a physician and manager of a care center in a large academic medical center. I find your videos valuable in that they teach how to improve safety and evaluate adverse events (AEs). I teach the value of CRM (crew research management) to my fellows, residents and students, so thank you for that one, as I believe proper CRM in a clinical environment is one of the most important ways to reduce medical AEs. The reason I am commenting about this particular video is the whole second half of the flight looks like the pilot had a medical issue that caused this crash. My hypothesis is the patient recognized he was having medical issue, which is what prompted the 180 degree turn back towards the airport and then the medical issue progressed, which resulted in the slow and erratic flight path to the crash site. He was way too low to have had altitude sickness, but he is in just the right age range to have had a TIA (transient ischemic attack or mini-stroke), which prompted the about-face,. I suspect he then had progressively severe stroke symptoms, which could have impaired his mental or physical ability to control the aircraft, resulting in the erratic terminal moments of flight. You did not mention any radio communications with the aircraft during the last half of the flight. If the etiology of the crash was a TIA/stroke, then the pilot may also have had impaired ability to speak, which would explain the lack of radio communication. It will be interesting to see what the investigation ends up showing. It must have been a terrible shock to the pilot’s family to lose him suddenly and without warning and I am very sorry for their loss.

[@JMWexperience]

It’s never a good idea to guess about any kind of medical condition or issue, without knowing anything about the person.

[@Fcreceptor]

It’s not like he was suggesting the guy was drunk, on drugs, or doing something nefarious. He was simply speculating on what might explain the erratic flight behavior. Jesus 🙄

[@consortiumxf]

Thank you for your perspective on this crash from a medical standpoint. Also very interesting to hear how CRM is implemented in fields other than aviation! I am neither a pilot nor doctor, but an aviation nerd who has studied Leadership in-depth (Master's level) and within a healthcare environment.

[@consortiumxf]

@@JMWexperience He clearly was only *discussing* what possible medical conditions might cause the flight pattern and behavior (or lackthereof, such as no radio comms) based on statistics of people in the pilots age range.

[@Brian-kl1zu]

@@JMWexperience Oh c'mon. The doctor is offering a reasonable; medically based hypothesis--based on his experience, and utilizing FlightAware data. If anybody; the "shame" is on you. Your use of scare quotes around the title "doctor" is unfounded. Based on his comment; We'll take his word that he's a licensed physician, and not a poser.

[@craig7350]

I'm glad they didn't have ADS-B when I used to fly the SuperCub on floats. Every flight would be 'what the hell is that guy doing?'.

[@bloodredsky24]

CDK is Cedar Key, I've lived there for the past 30 years. Cedar Key was severely damaged in Hurricane Helene as was much of this section of the coast. It appears like he was trying to find the field in Crystal River from the data you showed from Flight Aware . Not sure why he would be flying over water at night either Juan. Not much between CK and Crystal River for reference at night, especially since the storm. Spatial disorientation is a real possibility and was my first thought because there is nothing out there between CDK and Crystal River except the Crystal River power plant which has two well lit cooling towers. Easily spotted from any altitude. Although he crashed south of the Crystal River field. Strange one for sure.

[@paulmcmahon646]

Marion County Airport just a little to the east - lit and with the fuel....

[@michaelspinelli350]

Hello he did have GPS and most navigation systems today have 3d synthetic vision. So lost is out. Did he eat at cedar key? He good of gotten food poisoning. Which makes more sense. As I have had it several times in Florida. Once requiring hospitalized

[@consortiumxf]

Thanks Juan! I was one of the people who asked that you look at this - I saw the ADS-B data how the speed dropped so rapidly was alarming. As always, your review and sources of info (outside 'official' sources) are amazing!

[@1982mako224]

I'm very familiar with the area where he went down. There is a decent sized airport just six miles north of the crash site called Crystal River Tom Davis Air Field. If I had to guess he was lost and trying to find that airport.

[@suav6402]

If he had Foreflight or Garmin he wouldn't had issues finding CGC?

[@michaelspinelli350]

Really how do you get lost with GPS.

[@1982mako224]

@@michaelspinelli350 Overwhelmed and confused.

[@williampotter2098]

Thanks very much Juan. And all of your twin brothers too. There must be 10 of you to get so much accomplished. I'd like to see more about the RV construction. Thanks again. You are a star.

[@dougsrepair1060]

Great forensic analysis. Thats what keeps this channel real. RIP, condolences to his family and loved ones.

[@scotabot7826]

A pilot in the area at the time said they heard him/someone clicking the radio mic trying to turn the runway lights on at the Crystal River airport that was several miles to the north of him.

[@JFirn86Q]

Very cool seeing your RV-12 project! I had no idea you were doing that. Too bad on this one, RIP Steve.

[@craigs5212]

I have been into Crystal River about a dozen times, this time of year especially on a clear night is subject to patchy low grown fog. Sure looks like he was trying to find Crystal River. Other than highway 19 that area is very dark at night with lots of water and low forested areas.

[@fly4doe2]

I agree with what your guess about Crystal River Airport. It is around 2 to 3 miles from the accident. Been there a number of times in the 90's to land on their grass strip. Hard enough to find in the daylight being that it just looks like a field. What is the lighting like there? Don't recall if 9/27 was paved back then. If he was having radio trouble and/or had no chart he might not have had the frequency or been able to activate pilot controlled lighting. Authorities at Crystal River should be queried about whether the lighting was activated around the time of the accident or not soon, before no one can recall. Maybe the PCL was OTS.

[@edf108]

Thanks!

[@blancolirio]

Thanks edf!

[@TheWrenchist]

I live there and there’s a small airport right where it says Crystal River on your map and I bet he was looking for the airport cause it’s right on US 19

[@EJHarrop]

Thank you Juan. Your candid and direct analysis is welcome. Lets see what comes from it.

[@jakecostello8400]

Weather was beautiful at the time of the crash. Right around where I live. His altitude really makes no sense as there was no ceiling that night. Absolutely beautiful out. NOTE KCDK does not sell fuel. So two hours to Cedar key from Atlanta, and then two hours after? This one confuses me, I’ll send a video next time flying over there so you can see. It is very dark, but the airport can be spotted easily from well over 15 miles away.

[@stevegredell1123]

Makes sense, from the Google Earth view Juan was showing it looks like it's surrounded by a bunch of nothing, shouldn't be difficult to spot on a clear night.

[@johndemerse9172]

Great post Juan. God bless him and his family. Cheers from CYYB.

[@demetriaofthe813]

I've flown in that area many times. It is very dark out there at night with few visual ground references to the west of 19 in that area. There are also many tall obstacles in the area he was flying so low. There is an inactive nuclear power plant in the area with associated high tension power lines as well as cell and radio towers. I shudder to think of flying low in that area at night. Taking off from CDK at night is unnerving in itself. Condolences to his family and friends.

[@grayrabbit2211]

It's even darker in that area since the hurricanes too.

[@mesillahills]

Even though I live in New Mexico, I moved here from Homosassa. And I know where he crashed intimately. My favorite restaurant was just up the street north. Steve was just south of the Crystal River airport where the main east/west runway comes almost clear out to Hwy 19/98. It was a grass strip runway I think when I was there. Maybe he was trying to get some runway lights or just in desperate need of finding it. Hwy 19 is not totally dark in that area. There are lots of strip malls and even a couple of big outlets just to the north. He should have been able to see lights that way and even landed on 19 which is 4 lane divided. My restaurant, Granny's is still there. High Marvin ! He had a different all you can east special every night, Some guy used to come in there and order more chicken up to 9 times. He was a legend.

[@rcarsey]

METAR KCGC 070115Z (12/6/24 8:15pm EST) AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 10/05 A3027 RMK A02 (pressure altitude reads 350' different than actual). CDK does not have fuel service - so total flight time was 4+10. Possible he was an ATC-shy pilot -- aiming for Albert Whitted (KSPG).. and went as far as he could without having to talk to towers/ATC. A few of the RV12 pilots I spoke to think that it was disorientation in the darkness, searching for the airport, until the nosewheel gear leg hit the high-tension power lines along side of the highway causing it to flip upside down and straight down. Added to that, there may have been some concern about being low on fuel after 4+ hours since being at an airport with fuel services.

[@WOFFY-qc9te]

You report aligns with my thoughts that his flight path is not structured I don't see any planning in his track. . As for ATC I think your assumption is correct, his last plan may have been to land on the highway but sadly the nose gear had other plans. My condolences to his Family and friends.

[@nateholderbein4873]

I think I'm talking with a lot of the same RV-12 pilots. Another factor in this potential chain, check out the NOTAMs for Crystal River. Lighted runway, but the runway end lights were out of service. If he was looking for Crystal, especially in a critical fuel situation, this would have made it a bit harder to recognize as a runway.

[@luismartinez-my1nk]

"Possible he was an ATC-shy pilot" ?????? That is incomprehensible to me, as a pilot.

[@WOFFY-qc9te]

@@luismartinez-my1nk Some are not comfortable on the RT

[@luismartinez-my1nk]

@WOFFY-qc9te Then they have no business in the cockpit- PS> FAA Commercial pilot cert.

[@gracelandone]

I either missed or hadn’t seen any progress reports on this plane construction project in awhile. Glad to see it’s still ongoing. Whatever our industry, it’s important we put something back by sharing our accumulated knowledge, passion, or folly with young folks. Good on you.

[@jonchowe]

The flight south was about 2x the flight north. I think he was looking for the airport, believing he had doubled back to it, and not realizing he was on the other side of the bay.

[@robertkennedy7816]

In 1999 I had a near fatal stall spin accident in an RV6. I was acting as a pilot examiner at the time and the candidate attempted a turn back which resulted in a flick roll at 300ft AGL. Following this accident I noted many similar accidents in RVs and discovered that the stall characteristics can be very abrupt given the straight wing without washout. These are not aircraft that you want to fly low and slow. Most often there are no survivors to tell the tale however I was able to partially recover and crashed into trees which were sufficient to decelerate the aircraft and both occupants survived albeit with significant injury. I caution pilots of RVs generally that these aircraft are inclined to bite you of you aren't careful.

[@williambarry8015]

Good looking craftsmanship on your airplane build Juan.👍

[@mannsonthemove2958]

Juan, the clouds were thin that night. I live in the area and it was a calm evening. He was only 3 miles from Crystal River airport where they have fuel.

[@mastabugfish]

Long straight flight path with steady/gradual loss of altitude could be due to head inside the cockpit (gps/instrument issue being worked through, etc.) With a wing leveler on, but no altitude hold engaged (non op due to GPS issue maybe?) Then the eratic flight path at the end would be explainable by pilot looking for a field based on time flown vs actual location (unsure of proficiency with VOR/NDB being private pilot but no instrument rating). It's easy for us to rely on the moving maps and get complacent with the "old fashioned" paper charts... however, they don't run out of batteries... Another alternative could be hypoxia due to a leak of exhaust into the cockpit. Would cause disorientation and lack of focus on altitude, improper AP mode selection/irrational decision making, loss of SA (location), etc. Guess the NTSB should know that after inspecting though. Whatever the case, sad to lose an aviator regardless of circumstances.

[@mapleext]

Yes it is. It does sound like he was impaired somehow.

[@theblackbear211]

Thanks for another well done report. This does indeed seem curious.

[@HighFlyer-p8x]

Thanks for looking into this. To me, the only way I would be doing these maneuvers is something like a house fire below that he was keeping an eye on or some other item of interest. If you were having trouble, you wouldn’t on purpose keep turning in circles unless that was the problem. I would think he would have had a GPS/moving map to let him know he was over his home airport. I don’t know if toxicology can tell if someone had CO poisoning. No radio calls, Strange.

[@toma5153]

Yes I thought Carbon monoxide poisoning is a possibility as well.

[@davepatrick9905]

I live in the area and as a CFI and mechanic I focused on the light sport and 912S, accumulating almost 10,000 hrs dual given. I am very familiar RV and its SB. As great as the Rotax is and generally the RV aircraft are,the 12 is not my favorite. In the interests of efficiency the cowl is too tight, fuel tank is behind you..eventually changed... its a unnecessarily tight aircraft with excellent handling. Even boarding the aircraft is in front... the aforementioned probably had nothing to do with the crash But the RV12 has very light controls and as far as I'm concerned night time VFR is almost IFR. Clear skies, small moon, town lights...the gulf is a black pit. I really know this area well. Not for low time pilots. No way. I hate to see this.... best wishes to his family

[@d.t.4523]

Thank you Juan, keep working.

[@RMR1]

There's a 290-foot cell tower right near where he crashed -- within 1,000 feet or so, I believe -- and several other fairly tall communications towers in that general area. With him flying so low, I wonder if he might have clipped one and lost control as a result.

[@Taladar2003]

Or maybe clipped a guy wire for one?

[@redbird444]

@@Taladar2003 …or spotted one late and aggressively maneuvered leading to a stall or loss of control.

[@frankgulla2335]

Juan, thank you for that very thorough review of what we know so far.

[@navion1946]

Certainly a strange ADS-B track but we have seen quite a few ads-b tracks that weren’t entirely accurate. When I review some of my own flights I have seen similar things.

[@bc-guy852]

What a fabulous analysis and update Juan. You are a consummate professional.

[@pigdroppings]

Enjoyed seeing your RV-12 build project...looking good

[@philipcobbin3172]

Be interesting on the suite of instruments on board.

[@blancolirio]

Yes!

[@robertoler3795]

the construction looks great nice job. this is a mystery wonder if he was you know trying to off himself

[@gerardmoran9560]

Great job Juan! Many countries prohibit VFR night flying without an instrument rating.

[@jeffmccloud6999]

Fair questions and great analysis as usual!

[@BernardoLizcano]

Great analysis Juan.I love your videos, so instructive and well explained to learn a lot. Thank you and Congratulations.

[@biastv1234]

Fit to fly is probably a good estimate.

[@mikemontagne2703]

Just a thought, that roll frame would be a perfect hard point for a ballistic parachute recovery system, as with the Cirrus. Evekor. Something Jaun to consider with the one you have in the works ?

[@wicked1172]

Questions well posed by a voice of considerable experience.

[@DocZoda]

I used to be a CFI that flew in North FL areas like this with my students on Night XCs and suspect it was spatial disorientation. Ive seen it happen multiple times to them due to their lack of instrument proficiency. 8pm out there and looking west there is usually a haze layer below 1000agl and it s DARK. To the east is dense forest and unpopulated area and is also very DARK. There is no horizon to discern. My educated guess is that he was attempting to search for the airport in those low airspeed and altitude maneuvers and lost his reference to the horizon and subsequently crashed.

[@lyleparadise2764]

I agree.....I've flown in that area at night and it gets very dark with very little or no horizon. MVFR conditions at best even on a clear night.

[@erichusmann5145]

Not a pilot, not a Floridian, but I've seen enough of this type of video that I was thinking the exact same thing. It's like he got lost and started looking for something (airport, navigational option, etc) and ran out of time and altitude.

[@Pilot_Tony]

Sorry, it's not often you get things wrong. You say the RV cones as a certified aircraft from the factory, but no LSA is certified. The FAA does not regulate the RV construction, it is built to ASTM standards and receives a special airworthiness. The second mistake is about service bulletins. In the LSA world they are service letters. So, make sure you keep the distinction between certificated aircraft and LSA.

[@lisasteimer5860]

Thanks for the look at building this aircraft. Flight path is very strange.

[@davidmerwin7763]

It will be interesting to see what happened. Thanks Juan.

[@shantalborud8001]

Just subscribed after seeing you with Hoover on PilotDeBrief! So interesting!

[@muhammadsteinberg]

My condolences to the family and friends of Mr Mensch. Being an aviator for several decades, I always feel like I lost a friend or friends when someone or several people die in an aviation accident even if I don't know them.

[@AIM54A]

That looks to me like he initially turned around not wanting to get into the weather, turned on the autopilot and fell asleep or had some medical issue, flew way south of this destination, lost track of where he was when he woke up. The autopilot looked like it did a little circle around his initial destination like it hit a way point, then just returned to it's previous heading and kept going south. Until he took over and was way south of his destination. He probably thought he was over the airport but couldn't find it, thats why he kept doing circles looking for a landmark.

[@toxaq]

My thoughts too.

[@shannon9564]

But then he could have just set the autopilot direct to his airport.

[@toxaq]

@@shannon9564 I’d wondered if he’d punched the wrong destination and that might’ve triggered the disorientation?

[@absurdengineering]

Does that plane even have an autopilot?

[@45KevinR]

An uninformed thought: what were wind speed and direction? Could say an hour out and an hour back put this airplane in very different places? Obviously it's odd in this era to not have working GPS to compensate for that though... An electrical issue might add up to having no GPS, or radio? Or he'd turned alternator off to stretch his fuel? Though clearly the ADS-B was still working.

[@stuartwalling]

I was at the crash site 15 minutes or so after the crash. Weather was perfect!

[@TheLincolnshireFlyer]

Thank you for the video 👍😊

[@christruexfan3622]

I live very close to where this accident unfortunately happened the last phase of his flight that appears to be erratic looks like he was circling the mainspring of the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park.The airport was just a short distance north of this vicinity in Crystal River, looks like he was headed up US 19 due south of the airport when he experienced his issue.

[@jadams3427]

Mystery... and sad. I am very sorry for Steve's family.

[@TheGospelQuartetParadise]

Thanks for your report on this, Juan. Tyler is taking this tragedy pretty hard. Looks like another GA pilot not carefully planning a flight in nighttime conditions. Condolences to his family. Leander

[@tn8402]

Crashed just 1.5 south of the Crystal River airport. Condolences to his family and friends

[@jimle22]

I am from Florida and it looks like he was looking for Crystal River airport which is a small strip may even be grass strip not sure. It has been a long time since I have been back there. BTW, CDK is Cedar Key small strip used to fly in there many years ago as a student pilot.

[@casssmith2610]

Growing up in a small town, my Father was a businessman so therefore knew everybody. I’m now remembering that he had an acquaintance, another businessman, who built his own airplane. Even as a kid, I remember being confused but in awe that that was a possibility. My Dad’s brother lived in Chicago and flew his own plane to visit us but I’d never known one could build their own plane. Still surprises me.

[@houseofsolomon2440]

It will be interesting to see if he may have had a medical situation rendering him unable to fly. Thank you for posting J.B.!

[@7CharlesV]

Those are my thoughts, too. A medical condition might explain the erratic piloting.

[@samhill3496]

Focus. Weather. Lost? Man it's dark over the swamps. On the telephone. Questions looking for answers. Good job Juan. There have been several crashes in last few days. One at Fort Blackmore VA. Guy flew out of Abington VA and crashed whst looked lije an older military plane in a field while doing low speed low altitude manuvers. Not sure if it was a trainer. Only a glimpse on the newscast.

[@peterredfern1174]

Condolences to his family,thanks for this report,safe flights mate,🙏🙏👋👋👏👏👍🇦🇺

[@markkulehtinen4733]

Long stretch of flying over dark water probably makes it improbable that the original flight plan was changed to an idea to check some planned night filming locations.

[@davidsmith7906]

It does make sense that he may have dozed off while flying on autopilot and then been looking for a landmark. If so, it beats me why he didn’t keep at a safe height and whip out his phone and use google maps to find where he was and even ask where his destination was. He could have done this before low fuel became an issue. I suppose this is part of the panic that sets in from being disoriented. The phone navigator is his ground based solution, so he didn’t think of using it in the air, maybe.

[@hotttt28]

Condolences to the family and friends RIP

[@moonmullins8227]

He was just a couple of miles from the Crystal River Airport and heading in that direction.....was he looking for it in the wrong place earlier?

[@mikemicksun6469]

Poor guy was lost he turned back and at night it’s easy to get disoriented. Juan if you say you would not fly over the gulf with all of your experienced then it tells the tell.

[@Mike-01234]

One of the drawbacks of a low wing using a flip up canopy if you flip it over no way to get out of the airplane. If it's on fire, or end up in a lake even in shallow water as the case with aerobatic pilot Marianne Fox in 2022 after running off the end of the runway she drowned in shallow water. She even asked ATC when the boat was coming to her rescue trapped in the cockpit as it filled with water. One reason I decided to build a Zenith 750 high wing.

[@kenp4727]

Looks like his southern most point was near PIE airport and he crashed a few miles away from Crystal River airport.

[@hiscifi2986]

I wonder if he had an all glass instrument panel, and had an electrical failure...? Maybe the first turn around was due to seeing the bad weather in front of him..

[@kennethiman2691]

Dan Gryder said he got a report from a nearby pilot that said Steve was keying his mike to turn on the landing lights. He apparently was looking for the runway while lost.

[@blancolirio]

"According to Gryder..." ;-)

[@3WAY-MIRROR]

hope this question is ok, but has carbon fiber been explored in aircraft construction, at least where the cockpit could improve safety? first time watching

[@kevinvanlohuizen2709]

Why no radio calls? Strange.

[@galenrath8321]

Wikipedia article on the Rotax engine says the company indicates the engine is not acceptable for night flying unless you have a backup to the electrical system.

[@combatcorgiofficial]

Radio calls? Wonder if he had electrical issues into spatial d

[@aproudamerican2692]

*🙏🏻Rest In Peace🕊* Steve Mensch Prayers and Best Wishes to Steves Family and Friends.

[@dennisclapp7527]

Thanks Juan

[@8AD858D8]

Many pilots out there have gotten way too reliant using Foreflight or just GPS for navigation, this poor guy looks like he was definitely lost in the night sky. I would recommend all casual VFR pilots plan and do an old school cross country every view months just to keep their proficiency up.

[@suav6402]

I agree, night flight are and can be difficult navigating, Foreflight is a life saver when need for night flights. I've been flying since 1975, including Mountain flights in Colorado, ForeFlight would have been a lot easier back then. II f you get lost using ForeFlight, you might as well hang up you hat and keep your feet on the ground.

[@Mrflightlogic]

Juan, as an RV owner and pilot of 52 years, I might add to your thoughts about night, overwater flight. I personally don't go out much with only one engine after dark. Especially around "black holes". In the daytime, I can probably pick a spot in an emergency and survive the touchdown. At night, all bets are off. (have walked away from three such occurrences so far.) My sympathies to the family. I struggle to see, with modern moving maps, what he was actually doing at those speeds and altitudes. Low, slow circling is risky enough in the day time. In this case, he clearly was in a tough spot.

[@Sagerat83]

Was the slow ground speeds due to the head-winds he had while flying north?

[@flysport_tedder]

the registration on the plane shows "vans", not the builder. That makes me think it was ELSA (factory build), not EAB?

[@jimslimm6090]

Too many comments to read; but what I get out of these videos is that it really doesn't matter why this pilot crashed unless you personally know him. What matters is discussing all of the things that could have caused it and putting them fresh in your head so that you have that extra prompt to remember what you should be doing or not doing. These discussions are great for helping anyone from a novice to a highly experienced pilot to have a fresh reminder of 1 to 20 things to be thinking of when going for a flight.

[@SI-lg2vp]

At one time I considered building a RV-12, but walked away. This model was engineered to meet the LSA standards. I don't think this plane will ever see any further development. The airframe will not likely see a bigger engine, or increase in airspeed, or useful load. I rented a RV-12 and was not impressed with the rotax engine, or how the plane quickly aged. A used Cessna 152 is in my opinion a more durable aircraft by comparison.

[@alanduncan9204]

I've seen thicker gauge bean cans.

[@zulgadams5837]

Those rotax engines remind me of Robinson helis, both seem to be junk!

[@berrywd]

@@zulgadams5837 What's the engine got to do with this crash? But yeah, Rotax must be junk. They have only built over 60k engines in the last 40 years, so obviously they are junk.

[@KenLeonard]

@@zulgadams5837- that would be a pretty good indicator of ignorance on your part. I’ve flown rotax 80, 100 and turbo 115 hp engines for 20 years. Have been thru the rotax school (iRTM) and worked turboprops, turbofans and heavy jets for 35 yrs.

[@richardmarte293]

Blanco. A question away from the subject. Are you still flying the triple 7 or have u retired?

[@blancolirio]

Almost retired...

[@ronwyatt1231]

Please keep us updated on the progress of this aircraft you are building. I find very interesting.

[@manifestgtr]

First and foremost, it’s always awful when someone dies…that takes ultimate precedent. But it adds an extra sting when it’s in “your” airplane. I’m an RV-12 pilot and it’s such a friendly little airplane…it hurts just that much more when one is involved with something like this…

[@skyfrog42]

I’ve flown this area many times in my Grumman Lynx and sometimes at night. Over the water is not a problem even at 2k feet while keeping the plane in gliding distance of land. The coast of Florida is well lit beyond the marsh areas and Crystal River Airport is easy to spot. There is very little traffic in that area, so I practiced slow flight (2K-3K) and did some sightseeing with lots of turns in that area. However, there is a placard at Cedar Key that warns pilots not to take off at night. There are no lights on takeoff for a horizon reference and many a plane has crashed into the water. Flying back to KVDF or KZPH, I would generally drop to pattern altitude (below TPA Bravo) but never lower. Note, the autopilot took him into class Bravo (TPA) @ 1500 before turning around to KCGC. Just an observation.

[@skyfrog42]

BTW, Cedar Key Clams are the best.

[@aneyesky]

Really helped me understand how there’s no real support for a crash, and injury is certain unless the pilot was wearing a helmet? I know helmets aren’t cool tho. Thanks Juan

[@Yakman18]

Almost like he was looking for Crystal River airport and couldn't find it. Wonder if he got the rwy lights turned on.

[@Clark-l6z]

I looked at that tracking information before I saw your video. First thing I thought, he was having a hard time finding Crystal River airport, just two and a half or three miles north.

[@sx300pilot5]

The RV-series of aircraft are a fantastic addition to aviation and have raised the bar for safety in the experimental category. That being said, I’ve also lost quite a few friends who crashed one (ie: stalled the landing after an engine failure). I don’t like how much the cockpit area gets penetrated in fairly light crashes.. it’s something that in my opinion needs to be addressed and strengthened..

[@fat_biker]

What happens if you lose electrical power while alone in the dark? No comms, no GPS... Would you attempt to return, screw up & then try to land on the first bit of light you see?

[@rcarsey]

no ADSB either. I highly doubt electrical was the problem.. even if the engine died. In other videos I did, I demonstrated how a short in the power going to the PFD would cause its battery backup not to work at all -- you'd have to turn the Master OFF for it to work.. which is the last thing you'd think to do.

[@chuckkaspersdad6072]

Hard to be sure, but it looked on the tracks you scrolled through rather quickly, that the turn to the South coincided with his use of the auto pilot. In the dark did he not notice a standard rate turn back on the heading he used on his previous flight from Atlanta? I.e he didn’t realize he was heading in the wrong direction thus continuing the accident chain that started with his apparently low fuel state (based on your comments above).

[@crapton9002]

Thanks Juan. Now the wait for the NTSB preliminary report. Condolences to this man's family.

[@Paul1958R]

NTSB preliminary report will just give some facts. It wont answer the 'why'. That we will have to wait 1-2 years for.

[@crapton9002]

@Paul1958R We will see. I'm interested in the autopsy report.

[@KO-pk7df]

Again, very sad to hear of this. Also sad that he passed away after working hard to complete a project like that and didn't get to live out his dream of many years of enjoyment with his RV. For some reason maybe exhaust is what my brain is telling me. Sound just like the kind of responses to judgment with a very tired/sleepy and or just a slow but constant exhaust gases entering cockpit that he was dealing with. I understand it accumulates in your blood and tissues and can be hard to catch especially if compounded with being tired/sleepy or with some prescription meds. I believe they will be able to discover those things in their investigation.

[@rudedog302]

Great video Juan, tragic. I keep thinking that he might have had a medical issue, HWY 19 is right there, two lanes each side and a wide ditch in between them, good place to set it down.

[@Ro32da72]

It's sad that you have to make these videos Juan, but your expert and sensitive analysis is always useful learning for ALL of us. Condolences to Steve's family and friends 💔

[@mariano_tiburon]

Love the weigthless soundtrack every time it appears in the videos