Accident Airborne Edge X UNREG, Tuesday 5 August 2008

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Date:	Tuesday 5 August 2008
Time:	18:25 LT
Type:	Airborne Edge X
Owner/operator:
Registration:	UNREG
MSN:	582-373
Engine model:	Rotax
Fatalities:	Fatalities: / Occupants: 2
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Substantial
Category:	Accident
Location:	Franklin, Maine - United States of America
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Franklin, ME (None)
Destination airport:	Franklin, ME (None)
Investigating agency:	NTSB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
Witnesses observed the non-certificated pilot with a passenger on board the unregistered, experimental light sport aircraft. The pilot of the weight-shift trike was performing a low-level maneuver above the bay when the trike made contact with the water and crashed. One witness, a friend of the pilot, reported that the pilot commonly performed the low-level maneuver as a greeting to the local residents in the area. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any evidence of a preimpact failure or malfunction with the trike and its systems. The postmortem toxicology testing revealed the pilot had a blood alcohol level of 159 mg/dl (0.159%). The pilot would have been substantially impaired and may have been alcohol dependent given his apparent tolerance to the sedative effects of alcohol.

Probable Cause: The pilot's improper decision to perform low-altitude maneuvers and his failure to maintain clearance from the surface of the bay. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's impairment due to alcohol.

Accident investigation: