One of the USA's leading alternative fuels executives has been killed in an experimental aircraft crash off the Pacific coast of California, in a crash similar to a 2002 Florida accident.
David Hermance, an advanced technology expert for Toyota in the USA, was killed Sunday when his Russian-built Interavia E-3 experimental aerobatic aircraft crashed into the Pacific Ocean near San Pedro in California. Hermance gave evidence in front of the US House committee on renewable fuels, urging an end to the USA's reliance on oil.
News reports stated that the aircraft, flying in an area where pilots typically practice aerobatics, failed to pull out of what appeared to be a loop, crashing vertically into the water around 400m (1,320ft) offshore. Reports also stated that an object, thought to be an unopened parachute, trailed the aircraft.
Based on a similar fatal E-3 crash in 2002 off the coast of Florida, investigators are likely to focus in on whether object was a parachute or the E-3’s canopy. In the Florida crash, the aircraft was performing aerobatics and also failed to recover from a steep dive. A witness reported that a 1m x 1m (3ft x 3ft) object separated from the aircraft shortly before the accident, according to the National Transportation Safety Board report.
The canopy was not found with the wreckage. Another E-3 pilot, quoted in the NTSB summary, reported that his canopy had opened and separate shortly after takeoff on one occasion, an “extremely sudden and violent” event. The cause was found to be excessive freeplay in the latch, allowing the handle to be moved to the closed position without the latch mechanism being fully engaged. The US Federal Aviation Administration lists five E-3s registered in the USA, including the aircraft Hermance was flying. That aircraft was also involved in a forced landing accident in California in 2000, resulting in minor injuries to the pilot.
Hermance earned his nickname as the designer who modified the Toyota Prius automobile for the US market in 2004 after the original version, first launched in Japan in 2000, failed to generate strong interest in the USA. The Prius is a fuel-efficient, low emissions vehicle that runs on a combination petrol (gasoline) engine and electric motor.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
