WPR17LA181 · Rans S9

According to a witness who was part of the ground crew for this flight, this was the first flight of the experimental, amateur-built airplane. The pilot conducted a "high speed" taxi test during which the airplane became "light." He then taxied back for takeoff from the turf runway. According to the witness, the airplane accelerated well, and liftoff occurred about 300 to 400 ft down the runway. About 2 seconds after liftoff, the airplane pitched up to a "fairly nose high attitude" of about 15° to 20°. When the airplane was at an altitude of about 150 ft and less than halfway down the runway, another witness observed it descend rapidly. The airplane landed hard and sustained substantial damage; the pilot was seriously injured. Evaluation of the airplane flight control travel ranges and weight and balance information did not reveal any anomalies. The pilot reported that the engine performed normally and that he intentionally attempted a steep climb to ensure that he cleared trees at the end of the runway; however, due to the mid-wing configuration, he lost sight of the horizon in the initial climb and then had difficulty judging his pitch attitude due to the lack of a cockpit attitude indicating instrument. Ground personnel had radioed him about the excessive pitch attitude, and the pilot likely overcorrected due to his uncertainty regarding both pitch attitude and ground proximity, which resulted in the airplane impacting the ground.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset