Flight Training - December 2019 - 57

FINALLY!
excessive descent rate near the water.
The NTSB cited the pilot's "failure to
maintain a proper descent rate during
the approach which resulted in a hard
landing." There were no injuries, but
the airplane was submerged in saltwater
up to its wings and a boat towed it to a
marina.
Icon's first fatal accident on May
8, 2017, was both tragic and seemingly
inexplicable.
A5 designer Jon Karkow, a brilliant
engineer, test pilot, and designer, was
taking a newly hired Icon employee,
Cagri Sever, on a flight over nearby
Lake Berryessa in Northern California.
Karkow had commercial single- and
multiengine land and seaplane ratings
(as well as glider and rotorcraft certificates), and he had logged nearly
600 flight hours in A5s-many of them
during strenuous and exacting test
flights. On a clear day, at a location he
knew well, Karkow flew up a blind canyon surrounded by rapidly rising terrain,
attempted a last-minute 180-degree turn,
and hit the ground with massive force.
The NTSB determined the probable
cause was the pilot's "failure to maintain
clearance from terrain while maneuvering at low altitude. Contributing to the
accident was the pilot's mistaken entry
into a canyon surrounded by steep rising
terrain while at low altitude for reasons
that could not be determined."
Karkow's death was a significant
blow to Icon, and five months later,
another hammer fell.
Retired baseball pitcher Roy Halladay took delivery of the first A5 outside
the company's training fleet. Halladay
had logged more than 700 flight hours
and earned multiengine and instrument
ratings, and he had flown 52 hours in A5s
including 14.5 hours in his own airplane.
On November 17, 2017, Halladay
was flying by himself near his home on
Florida's Gulf Coast when his airplane
struck the water, broke apart, and submerged. Video taken by fishermen just
prior to the crash, as well as data from
an onboard GPS and engine monitor,
showed Halladay was maneuvering
aggressively and banking steeply near
the water in the moments leading up
to the accident. Traces of morphine,
amphetamine, and Ambien were later
found in Halladay's body, according to
the final NTSB report.

On June 25 of this year, an A5 overturned in a lake in British Columbia,
Canada, when it apparently touched
down in the water with its landing gear
extended. The 72-year-old pilot and a
passenger suffered minor injuries. Since
Canada doesn't recognize U.S. sport pilot
certificates, it's almost certain the pilot
held at least a private pilot certificate.
On July 11, an A5 was destroyed
when it lost power and struck trees in
an off-field landing. The NTSB said the
74-year-old private pilot exhausted the
airplane's fuel supply by running the
engine beyond 5,500 rpm for 1.2 hours,
in violation of the airplane's operating
manual, which limits full-power operation to five minutes.
On July 30, another A5 was
destroyed in a post-takeoff accident in
Michigan that was recorded on a video
shared widely on social media. The
airplane was flown by an airline transport pilot who occupied the right seat
during a sales demonstration flight, and
a pilot-rated passenger was in the left
seat. The airplane was about 70 pounds
over its maximum gross weight, according the NTSB, and the video showed it
struggled to gain altitude before settling
and clipping a tall tree. The passenger
suffered serious injuries and the pilot
minor injuries when the airplane struck
the water.
The reasons for this litany of horrors
are varied, and few threads seem to tie
them together.
Having flown the A5 for about
40 flight hours-including a formal
checkout and a transcontinental ferry
flight-I suspect that pilot overconfidence is a factor. The airplane flies
so obediently, and it has such benign
handling characteristics, that it gives
the false impression it can do anything.
Its spin-resistant design, however,
doesn't mean it won't stall. It will. The
airplane is easy to overload, and with a
gross weight of 1,510 pounds and a mere
100-horsepower engine, the A5 it has a
meager power-to-weight ratio.
But a few conclusions are clear: New
sport pilots, a lack of flight experience,
and even those dazzling marketing videos aimed at impressionable young pilots
aren't the problem.
We veteran pilots are. FT
dave.hirschman@aopa.org
AOPA.ORG/FT 57

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Flight Training - December 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - December 2019