NTSB Factual Report

On November 18, 2001, at 1649 central standard time, a Lyon Horizon 1, N565LL, piloted by a private pilot, sustained substantial damage during an in-flight collision trees and terrain while attempting an aborted landing from runway 14 (3,000 feet by 49 feet, dry/asphalt) at the Richland Municipal Airport (MO1), Richland, Missouri. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The flight was operating under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 and was not on a flight plan. The pilot, the sole occupant, sustained minor injuries. The flight departed MO1 about 1645 and at the time of the accident was attempting to land at the same airport.

According to the pilot's written statement, he only intended to ground taxi the airplane so that he could evaluate the ground handling characteristics of the airplane. The pilot stated, "When I attempted to taxi the aircraft down the runway, I encountered several bad spots in the runway that caused my plane to turn to the left and then to the right in a S-type fashion. My ground speed I estimate it to be between 25 and 30 miles an hour. I tried to correct the airplane when it veered off the runway to the right and on to the grass. I applied throttle to get back on the runway as I could see the marker lights just in front of me. When I applied throttle the wind got under my left wing and lifted me up into the air. I determined that I must fly the aircraft or stall and risk a nose dive into the runway. I applied full throttle and maintained a go around. I attempted to land the aircraft after a go around and after encountering bad spots on the runway again I could not keep the airplane under good directional control. On the third attempt to get the aircraft on the ground I slowed the aircraft down in an attempt to stop. As I was slowing down again I hit something on the runway that put me back in the grass to the right of the runway. [Again] I attempted to get back on the runway and straighten out the aircraft and this time the wind picked up the left wing again I attempted to regain control. With the wind under the left wing and the throttle position set to attempt another go around combined with a close to stall speed the aircraft continued to approach the tree line until the right wing clipped the top of a cedar tree and cart wheeled to the ground."

According to an incident report provided by the Richland Police Department, the pilot had recently purchased the airplane and had not flown the airplane until the accident flight. The report stated, "He [the pilot] stated he had unintentionally flown the plane when he was piloting the aircraft on the runway and due to a combination of the bumpy runway and the strong wind his aircraft was lifted from the ground by the wind." The reported continued, "[the pilot] stated he then gave the aircraft full throttle so that he would not crash on the runway and then he flew [the airplane] around a couple times attempting to land it. He stated on the third attempt to land the wind forced his plane towards the ground. He stated he attempted to control the plane by giving the engine full throttle and attempting to steer, but the plane crashed into the woods." According to the report, the aircraft was found resting on its nose, approximately 99 feet from the end of runway 14. The report stated that the aircraft was located in a tree line, to the right of the runway, orientated on a northerly heading.

According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records, the pilot's last medical examination was conducted on March 24, 1994, and he was issued a third-class medical certificate.

The FAA Airport/Facility Directory states the condition of runway 14-32 as being, "broken [asphalt] potholes with loose aggregate and grass growing in cracks."

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot not attaining altitude/clearance from the tree line during the aborted landing. Factors to the accident were the pilot selecting to operate the airplane on the rough/uneven runway, the pilot's lack of total experience in the airplane, and the tree line.