News - National
FAA issues safety warning for homemade planes
Posted: Mar 25, 2010 2:34 PM by Bea Karnes, News First 5
Federal officials say high-performance homemade planes like the one that killed a beach jogger last week in South Carolina are likely to stall at higher speeds and have been involved in a disproportionately large number of fatal accidents.
The Federal Aviation Administration warned pilots on Thursday that the Lancair, which is built from kits, and others like it are apt to stall at speeds higher that 61 mph. The agency also cautioned that since the planes are built by amateurs there can be differences in performance, including at what speed they might stall.
Lancair kits are made by Lancair International of Redmond, Washington.
Pharmaceutical salesman Robert Gary Jones was killed on a Hilton Head Island beach as the pilot of a Lancair tried to land the plane.
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