Crashed plane built from kit

Though federal officials said the plane that crashed into a Roseville home Sunday morning took off from the Lincoln Regional Airport, employees at the airport say there's no way to know for sure the plane was there.The Glasair II single-engine kit plane was not registered at the Lincoln airport, according to records."There are two reasons why planes from out of the area stop here," said Lincoln Airport manager Dave Daly. "One is to refuel and the other is to pick up or drop off someone."According to Daly, airport personnel - after checking the logs - said the plane involved in the Roseville crash had not purchased fuel in Lincoln.Daly went on to say that unless someone comes forward to say he or she was dropped off at the airport, then officials have no record of the plane ever touching down or taking off there last weekend.Airport personnel also checked a list of planes that are based at the Lincoln airport, Daly said, noting the list is supplied to the county tax collector. The plane was not on that list as well.Eyewitnesses to the crash have told investigators and media outlets the plane was flying too low, about 100 feet above homes. Daly said Federal Aviation Administra-tion regulations prohibit planes from flying below 1,000 feet over populated areas, unless they are taking off or landing."And Roseville is too far from Lincoln for the plane to have been taking off or landing," Daly said.Allen Kenitzer of the FAA's regional public affairs office stressed there is no information to yet confirm the pilot was performing any stunts when it went down."We're just beginning our investigation," Kenitzer said. Kenitzer did say the FAA does not allow planes to perform any stunts over populated areas.There are exceptions at air shows after pilots receive special clearance.Kenitzer added planes are not allowed to do any stunts over open country less than 1,500 feet above the "hard deck" or terrain.The plane that went down was a Glasair Super II FT that is built from a kit. According to Dick Knapinski, spokesperson for the Experimental Aircraft Association, more than 27,000 home-built airplanes are registered with the FAA. Glasair planes "are typically at the high-end of the homebuilt airplanes," he said.Knapinski said the Glasair model involved in Sunday's incident was offered in the late 1980s and early 1990s. "It's probably a 200 to 250 miles per hour airplane, and has a range of more than 1,000 miles," he said.He estimated the plane's fuel capacity at 48 gallons.Knapinski noted that, while the plane is rated to perform aerobatic maneuvers, "what it comes down to is, does the pilot have training to do aerobatics?"According to the manufacturer's Web site, www.glasairaviation.com, "Whether your idea of flying fun is loading up your plane for a 10-day trip with your wife to the opposite coast, shooting a difficult approach ... or perfecting your barrel roll on a sunny Sunday afternoon, the Super II will accommodate you in style."