Fort Myers - Fort Myers

On November 14, 2009 at 10:18 AM, Fort Myers - Fort Myers experienced a crash involving Travel Air 4000, operated by Low %26 Slow Aviation Ventures, with the event recorded near Fort Myers-Page Field Florida.

The flight was categorized as demonstration and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

3 people were known to be on board, 0 fatalities were recorded, 3 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 0.0%.

Crew on board: 1, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 2, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. During approach, the pilot of the tailwheel-equipped biplane flew along at 20-30 feet above the runway until he was at midfield. The biplane touched down, bounced back in to the air, touched down again, and bounced once more prior to touching down for a third time in a nose-high attitude. The biplane then veered to the right, the right wing dipped, and the biplane cartwheeled, coming to rest inverted. The pilot had 60 hours of flight experience in the biplane. The previous owner had advised the pilot that landing the biplane took patience to land it perfectly and that attempting to land the biplane on asphalt with low experience could cause the biplane to bump repeatedly. He also advised that if the pilot pulled back on the control stick too soon during landing it could result in ballooning and porpoising.

Aircraft reference details include registration N3823, MSN 306, year of manufacture 1927.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 26.5908°, -81.8700°.