[QUOTE=Frank Giger;62368]No, there certainly seems to be a disconnect between what I was told and what was in the newspapers. Very hard to say exactly what's reality until a full report is out. Given ICON's visibility, I assume that the NTSB will do a real investigation - not the usual EAB stuff done by folks that aren't familiar enough with the aircraft to be able to accurately determine what occurred. If the hull actually cracked from a mere hard landing - one that wasn't hard enough to damage the folks inside, that's probably an issue that will need to be addressed.
So the A5 will not spin, HOWEVER, if forced, it can "depart" and enter a spiral dive. Aerodynamically, that's a very different thing from a spin, but it's still descending nose down while turning around. Recovery is different than from a spin, and it's difficult to get it to depart, but it is possible. One theory that has been proposed to me (and which I believe is one of many possible explanations that fit the evidence shown in the public pictures) is that _IF_ there was some demonstration of the "non-spin" capabilities of the plane (which I've experienced) that occurred at relatively low altitude, a spiral dive occurred. Without the altitude to recover, a vertical-ish impact with the steep bank of the lake could occur. Given the angle of the right wing, which was twisted forward and down, and the broken left wingtip which was broken aft, as well as the demolished nose of the plane, a nose down spiral dive to the right could be one possible explanation for the extant damage. Hardly the only possible explanation, but one.
The pilot error, in this case, would be in engaging in this demonstration at low altitudes. Without any witnesses to indicate what the plane was doing before it struck the bank, though, it'll take some investigative work by the FAA/NTSB/ICON team to determine what the plane was doing when it struck the ground and in what attitude.
Absolutely. The industry is dying, and not slowly, either.
Yep. Hence my not working there after the year I did work there. They have certainly shot themselves in the foot a number of times. I would done things very differently had I been appointed emperor, but sadly, that didn't (and hasn't, and certainly won't) occur. And there's no guarantee, even with my amazingly superior intellect (that's a joke, son), that anything I would have done differently would have made a damn bit of difference, since the issues might be depending on the goal, not the path. We must always question our own certainty about any opinion we hold...