On may 2016 Seguin Quickie Experimental Jet Crashed in Mojave Air and Space Port. Pilot was injured during the crash
The commercial pilot and a colleague constructed the single-place, composite airplane with the intention of using it for air racing purposes. Rather than using the single piston engine and propeller specified by the original plans, they opted to power the airplane with two turbojet engines. The engines were designed and intended for use only on model aircraft and were mounted one per side on the lower fuselage, just aft of the cockpit.
The airplane was in the very early stages of its flight test program and had flown only two previous flights with an accumulated total flight time of about 0.8 hours. The purpose of the accident flight was to begin exploring the crosswind handling characteristics and capabilities of the airplane.
About 200 ft above ground level (agl) during the first landing approach, the pilot conducted a go-around and climbed to pattern altitude for another approach. While in the landing flare about 10 ft agl, a gust of wind from the right side disturbed the airplane, and the pilot applied power to go around.
He heard one engine “spool down” and confirmed a power loss on the left engine via the instrument indications. The wind gust and power loss caused the airplane to track left toward an array of unused airliners stored at the airport. Since the airplane’s single-engine minimum control speed had not yet been determined, preflight planning called for reducing power on the remaining engine and landing in the event of an engine power loss; however, the pilot maintained about 30-40% thrust on the right engine to avoid impacting one of the airliners.
The asymmetric thrust resulted in a loss of directional control, and the airplane was destroyed when it struck a wooden office trailer and the ground. There was insufficient evidence to determine the reason(s) for the loss of engine power, and none of the three most likely causes (fuel flow interruption, air flow interruption, or flameout due to rapid and large throttle input) could be definitively ruled out.
Probable Cause: A loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined based on the available information.
NTSB Summary Of Crash
On May 13, 2016, about 1530 Pacific daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Quickie, N68TQ, was destroyed when it impacted a structure and terrain following a loss of engine power at Mojave Air and Space Port (MHV), Mojave, California. The pilot received minor injuries. The test flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed.
The airplane was originally developed and designed as a kit to be powered by a single piston engine. According to the pilot, he and another individual had modified the airplane to be powered by two turbine engines, and they planned to use it for air-racing purposes. The accident flight was the third flight of the airplane, which had accumulated a total of approximately 0.8 hours of flight time, all by the accident pilot. The flight was intended to begin exploring the crosswind handling capability and characteristics of the airplane. The pilot intended to conduct several circuits in the airport traffic pattern, each terminating in a low approach and go around, with one landing at the end of the flight. The pilot departed on runway 12, and conducted his first approach to runway 26.
When the airplane was about 200 feet above ground level (agl), the pilot abandoned that approach, and climbed back up to pattern altitude for another approach. This time, based on the winds, he maneuvered for a landing on runway 12. While in the flare at approximately 10 feet agl, a gust from right side disturbed the airplane, and the pilot applied power to go-around. He heard an engine “spool down,” and confirmed a power loss on the left engine via the instrument indications. The gust disturbance and power loss caused the airplane to track left towards the airliners stored at MHV, and the pilot found himself headed for a parked B-747. He maintained approximately 30-40% thrust on the right engine to clear the B-747, but he was unable to correct the directional slew with full aileron/rudder controls. The airplane cleared the parked B-747, continued to descend, and impacted a wooden office trailer and the ground shortly thereafter.
The airplane impacted in an area of the airport used to store and/or dismantle unused airlines. The highly fragmented wreckage was located in a relatively compact area, about 3,000 feet down runway 12, about 1,500 feet northeast of its centerline. The airplane struck the office trailer, located among the airliners, while it was still airborne. The trailer was oriented with its longitudinal axis approximately east-west, and the airplane initially struck the east end of the south side, headed north. Damage patterns were consistent with the airplane passing completely through the trailer. The canards, wings, vertical stabilizer, and one engine were all fracture-separated from the fuselage. The fuselage was ruptured just aft of the cockpit, but the cockpit remained relatively intact. No leaked fuel was observed at the scene, and there was no fire. No FAA or NTSB personnel responded to the scene on the accident day, and the wreckage was collected and transported to the pilot’s hangar at MHV for subsequent examination. An FAA inspector examined the wreckage a few days after the accident. All components were accounted for. The inspector observed leaked fuel below the fuselage section where the fuel tank was mounted. He was unable to determine the remaining fuel quantity, or whether the tank was breached. Neither engine displayed any evidence of an uncontained failure, or other evidence of any pre-impact mechanical failures.
Seguin Quickie Experimental Aircraft
Seguin Quickie, registration N68TQ, crashed in Mojave, CA. If you don’t recognise the aircraft type, that’s because there’s only one in existence. Or was. The Seguin Quickie was an experimental amateur-built kit plane: a single-seater composite aircraft. It was designed and constructed for air racing by commercial pilot Elliot Seguin, who worked as a professional test pilot for a general aviation aircraft manufacturer, and his colleague Justin Gillen.
General FAA information indicated that the airplane was built by the pilot, and registered to him in February 2016. The pilot reported that the airplane was equipped with two Czech-manufactured PBS-TJ40 turbine engines, and that the engines were FADEC (full authority digital engine control) equipped. The airplane was primarily of composite (glass cloth and resin) construction. It was a canard design, with the wings mounted aft and above the single-place cockpit. The two fixed main landing gear were located at the ends of each canard, and a tailwheel was situated below the single vertical stabilizer and rudder. The original design for a nose-mounted piston engine was modified by the builders; they fabricated and installed a faired nose cone, and installed the two turbine engines just aft of the cockpit, one on either side of the fuselage, near where the side surfaces transitioned to the bottom surface. One engine was attached to either end of a through-strut, so that each engine/thrust centerline was located about 2 feet outboard of the fuselage centerline. Engine Information The engine was designed and marketed for use on model aircraft. According to the engine manufacturer’s Operation and Maintenance Manual (OMM), the TJ40-G1 was a single-shaft turbojet engine with a single-stage radial compressor, annular combustion chamber, single-stage axial turbine, and an exhaust nozzle. A starter-generator was housed in the compressor impeller assembly. A ceramic spark plug was integrated in the combustion chamber, and “evaporating pipes” were used for “generation of the mixture of fuel and air.” The engine produced about 88 pounds of thrust. Idle fuel consumption was cited as 20 ml/min (0.32 gallons per hour- gph), and maximum fuel consumption rate was 19.2 gph. The OMM contained the following caution: “The TJ40-G1 turbojet engine is designed exclusively for model aircraft and is not suitable for any other purpose. Never use it for people, objects or vehicle; it can only be used for properly designed model aircraft. Any other use can result in injury or death.”
