Several witnesses observed the Aventura II during engine start at the airport in Sebring, Florida, and reported that, when the engine started, it tipped forward onto its nose and then fell back and its tail struck the ground.
The pilot exited the airplane, walked to the back, returned to the cockpit, and then taxied out.
No witnesses reported seeing the pilot examine the underside of the tail or the elevators after the tail strike.
A video recording made by one of the witnesses after the tail strike showed that the airplane departed, climbed to about 300 feet above ground level (agl), made a 180° left turn, and performed a pass down the runway in the opposite direction of the takeoff.
A few seconds later, after executing another 180° turn, the plane performed another low pass down the runway, this time in the direction of the takeoff.
The plane then entered a left turn, the bank angle increased until the wings were almost perpendicular to the ground, the nose of the airplane dropped, and the airplane descended in a nose-down attitude to ground impact, killing both souls on board.
The airplane came to rest on its nose with the fuselage nearly perpendicular to the ground.
Post-accident examination revealed that the elevator trim cable was separated from the trim tab. Although it is possible the trim cable disconnected when the tail struck the ground during engine start (and would have been noticeable to the pilot if he had looked), the investigation could not conclusively determine when the trim cable separated or whether the separation contributed to the pilot’s loss of airplane control.
It is likely that, during the low altitude flyby, the pilot inadvertently entered an aerodynamic stall while maneuvering and did not have sufficient altitude to recover.
The NTSB determined the probable cause the pilot’s failure to maintain control while maneuvering at low altitude, which led to the airplane exceeding its critical angle-of-attack and experiencing an aerodynamic stall.
NTSB Identification: ERA15FA102
This January 2015 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
I don’t know the design specs for the Aventura II.
I do have a problem with “when the engine started, it tipped forward onto its nose and then fell back and its tail struck the ground”.
Looking at pictures of this aircraft, the main gear wheels should have been significantly ahead of the CG to where a full throttle start while holding the brakes should not have caused this problem. Otherwise, one could not do a full throttle run up to set for Max Power.
This is indicative of the CG being forward beyond the design limit from where I sit.
So I doubt that the pilot had sufficient elevator authority to handle the turn. And if the trim control cable broke at that point…
Me thinks the NTSB missed the problem on this one — excessively forward CG.
The lack of longitudinal trim should not have caused loss of control. The pilot was out of control from the time he started the airplane until it crashed.