Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Payson, Utah 84651
Thursday, April 1, 1999 17:00 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After being airborne for 15 minutes, the aircraft's engine began to lose power. The pilot initiated an emergency landing along a county road but switched to another road to avoid power lines. Upon touchdown, the aircraft departed the side of the road and struck a fence post. The engine was examined and test run, and no discrepancies were observed. The pilot stated that 'other pilots at the scene agreed the conditions could cause carburetor icing.' According to the FAA inspector present at the accident scene, 'the conditions were a classic setup for carburetor icing.' The Van's Aircraft construction and operating manual states that one method of building the carburetor heat system is to 'run a 2-inch air hose from a heat muff and position it to feed into the alternative air inlet of the carb[uretor] air box,' which is the method by which the pilot constructed the airplane. According to the inspector, the 2-inch hose is not large enough to adequately supply enough heat to the carburetor to sufficiently melt the ice. The aircraft was issued an airworthiness certificate by the FAA on August 24, 1995.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The development of carburetor ice resulting in a loss of engine power, and the inadequate carburetor heat shroud. Factors were the carburetor icing weather conditions, the kit manufacturer's inadequate carburetor heat shroud design, the FAA's inadequate certification of the aircraft, the snow covered, unsuitable terrain on which to perform a forced landing, and the fence post.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/1/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | PAYSON |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84651 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 30 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 4300 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 113 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 1 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 10 2001 4:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N80287 |
| NTSB Number | DEN99LA062 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Sly |
| Aircraft Model | RV-6A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | RV-6A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 22902 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1650 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 22 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 8 |
| Airframe Hours | 198 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RUSSELL M. SLY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 45 W. OAK RIDGE DR. |
| Aircraft Owner City | ELK RIDGE |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84651 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | U77 |
| Departure City | SPANISH FORK |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1645 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 10 2001 4:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |