Report: Plane seemed unstable

MOUNT PLEASANT -- A single-engine experimental aircraft appeared unstable while landing on the runway at East Cooper Regional Airport and then headed nearly straight up into the air before flipping upside down and crashing July 19, according to a preliminary report released by the NTSB.

The pilot, Dustin Rabe, 29, of Los Gatos, Calif., died in the crash.

The National Transportation and Safety Board report said Rabe was flying the first leg of a ferry flight to deliver the plane to its owner in Holland.

A witness who works at the Mount Pleasant airport told investigators that the plane looked "a little wobbly and unstable" before touching down on the 3,700-foot-long, 75-foot-wide asphalt runway.

The plane then traveled off the right side of the runway on to a grass area and was "swaying side to side" before the witness heard the engine power-up. It went airborne again "almost straight up, like it was performing an aerial maneuver and appeared to stall and then flipped over upside down and went straight into the ground," the report quoted the unnamed witness.

A Federal Aviation Administration inspector noted the tire marks about 1,000 feet from the approach end, on the right side of the center line. The marks continued about 360 feet on the runway before traveling an additional 50 feet in the grass. The plane, a six- to eight-seat, tail-wheeled, turboprop plane, came to rest upside-down about 300 feet from the right edge of the runway. A post-crash fire consumed most of the Comp 8 aircraft, the report said.

Rabe reported 1,600 hours of total flight experience on his most recent FAA application filed on June 22.

He flew the plane with a certified flight instructor for five hours on the day before the crash, the report said.

The flight instructor reported they performed 20 practice landings and that the pilot at first had some difficulty controlling the tailwheel, especially if the airplane bounced during landing. Eventually Rabe got the hang of it, and the instructor said he was "very impressed" with how he handled the plane.

The instructor said he felt the pilot was capable of flying the plane on the ferry flight to Holland; however, they made plans to conduct another familiarization flight on the day of the crash. The instructor told investigators that he did not have any further contact with Rabe and was not sure why he elected not to have a second flight.

George Rabe of Los Gatos, also a pilot, said his son's love of aviation stemmed from his grandfather, who flew for United Airlines for 35 years. He said his son had seen the world ferrying aircraft to the islands of the Pacific and across the Atlantic to Europe, landing in Germany, Poland, Finland and Denmark.

Reach Andy Paras at 937-5589, aparas@postandcourier.com or on twitter at twitter.com/andyparas.