NTSB Factual Report

On July 12, 2018, about 1042 eastern daylight time, a experimental, amateur-built Rutan Defiant, N17DR, impacted terrain while in the traffic pattern at Robertson Field Airport (4B8), Plainville, Connecticut. The airplane was substantially damaged. The private pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was registered to the pilot and was operated under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The flight originated about 1037.

A witness reported that he was on the ramp at 4B8, preparing for an instructional flight. He observed the accident airplane climb out from runway 2 and immediately veer to the left. The airplane was 150-200 feet above the ground near the fixed base operator. The airplane continued in a steep (80-90°) left bank until it disappeared below the horizon and crashed. He may have heard at least one engine operating at the time of the accident. There was no smoke trailing the airplane.

The airplane collided with upsloping terrain inside a city-owned landfill, about 0.4 miles southwest of the airport center. The wreckage path was oriented on a 150° heading and was about 105 feet in length and about 25 feet wide. The airplane came to rest on a 060° heading. There was no fire. The forward engine, firewall, and instrument panel partially broken away from the fuselage and remained attached by cables and wires. The aft engine and wooden propeller remained attached to the fuselage; they were generally undamaged with the exception of minor non-rotational surface scratches on the propeller blades. Flight control continuity was established from the aft-mounted wing/vertical fin assembly control surfaces to the cockpit. Control surface continuity from the forward-mounted canards to the cockpit was not established due to postimpact damage to those components.

The nose landing gear was separated during the impact sequence. The left and right main gear struts remained attached to the fuselage. The right main gear tire remained attached to the right strut and the left main gear tire separated during the accident sequence and was located adjacent to the left wing tip.

The pilot held a private pilot certificate with airplane single engine and multi-engine land ratings. The multi-engine rating was valid for the Rutan Defiant only. According to his pilot logbook, he recorded 765 hours total time prior to the accident. The pilot was listed in Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness records as one of the builders of the airplane.

The fiberglass-construction, four-seat airplane was equipped with two Lycoming O-320 series engines in a push-pull configuration. According to the airplane logbooks, a condition inspection was completed on December 1, 2017. The airplane had accrued about 286 hours of total time at the time of the accident.

Hartford-Brainard Airport (HFD) was located about 10 miles east of the accident site. The 1053 weather observation at HFD included wind from 010º at 7 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, sky clear, temperature 28°C, dew point 9°C, and an altimeter setting of 30.17 inches of mercury.

The wreckage was retained for further examination.