Lancair Legacy Crash

Lancair Legacy that departed the Sun 'n Fun Fly-in and airshow at Lakeland, Fla., April 13 may have done so with an open canopy, as you can see in the above picture. The Legacy (N1177M) departed Lakeland on runway 27 in VFR conditions. Witnesses said that the pilot and sole occupant appeared to have difficulty closing the canopy. One witness even saw the canopy moving up and down between six and twelve inches. Shortly after takeoff, nearly 1/4 mile from Lakeland airport, the engine apparently lost power and the aircraft continued straight and level before pitching down 40 degrees and crashing beyond a tree line.

The pilot, Gerard Scholnik, died as a result of the accident and post-crash fire. Truly sad. The other crazy thing is that the EAA had just given that aircraft an award for Outstanding Homebuilt Aircraft for 2008.

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