A test pilot flying a Lancair Columbia 400 plane safely ejected from the aircraft before it crashed and was engulfed in flames near Millican early Wednesday morning, a spokesman for the Bend company said.

No one was injured.

The Columbia 400, the company’s newest model, is in the process of being certified by the Federal Aviation Administration and has been undergoing a series of mandatory tests for months, said Brian Bowley, a Lancair spokesman.

The tests are designed to ”push the aircraft to its limits,” he said.

During the flight, the FAA-certified test pilot, Lyn Fox, intentionally caused the plane to fall into a spin, Bowley said. When Fox couldn’t recover from the spin, he deployed a small chute at the tail of the plane designed to disrupt the spin and stabilize the aircraft.

After the chute deployed, the plane stabilized as it was supposed to, Bowley said. However, the plane can’t fly properly with the chute deployed. When the pilot attempted to disconnect the chute two different ways and was unsuccessful, he ejected from the aircraft and parachuted safely to the ground, Bowley said.

”The question here is, why did two methods of separation not work?” he said.

Only the test aircraft are equipped with the chutes, he said, and they are not included in the regular design of the Columbia 400.

The plane landed in an unpopulated area and caught fire, burning a small area of brush. No structures were damaged, Bowley said.

”The FAA is already involved, they know what the aircraft is, they know it’s a prototype,” he said.

Officials at the FAA’s Northwest Mountain Region Office could not be reached for comment.

Bowley stressed that the accident is not going to put the brakes on the company’s production or sales.

”This is not going to affect the economics of the company or its staff,” he said.

The last Lancair model certified by the FAA was the Columbia 350, which began rolling off the production line July 1.

That certificate was a springboard to the Columbia 400, which was on track to be certified by this fall. That process is now delayed indefinitely, Bowley said.

The Columbia 400 model is a turbocharged version of the company’s FAA certified Columbia 300 and 350. Like the 350, the Columbia 400 is all electric, but it has a 310-horsepower turbocharged engine that will enable it to cruise at speeds up to 265 mph and at altitudes up to 25,000 feet. The plane can carry up to four people, including the pilot.

Lancair Certified Aircraft, not to be confused with the Lancair kit company, opened its doors in 1994 and now employs about 300 people at its manufacturing facility located at the Bend Airport.

The company manufactures one plane every four days.

Lisa Rosetta can be reached at lrosetta@bendbulletin.com.