Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sundance Airpark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73127
Monday, April 7, 1997 17:14 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The engine lost power and an in flight fire sent smoke into the cabin during initial takeoff climb on a local maintenance flight of a prototype exhaust system. During the forced landing, short of the runway, the airplane touched down in soft soil, crossed a gravel driveway and struck an embankment and a fence before coming to a stop. Subsequently the airplane was consumed by the fire. The airframe was inspected by the FAA inspector and he found an unapproved modification, designed by the pilot, for the cowling and the exhaust system. The exhaust system components were wrapped in a heat protective tape approximately 2 inches wide. After removing the exhaust from the engine and removing the tape, it was found that the right hand exhaust pipe collector was cracked in several areas. The pilot reported that he was working on a STC for drag reduction and the experimental exhaust manifold cracked at the weld after 7 hours of test flights.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The exhaust manifold cracking due to the pilot's inadequate maintenance modification of the exhaust system which resulted in a fire. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/7/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1714 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | OKLAHOMA CITY |
| Event State | OKLAHOMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 73127 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SUNDANCE AIRPARK |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HSD |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1193 |
| 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 | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 18 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 387 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 7 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 18 2002 11:28AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\GIUV |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4861W |
| NTSB Number | FTW97LA156 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Rockwell |
| Aircraft Model | 114 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 114 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 14191 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3250 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 22 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 14 |
| Airframe Hours | 2000 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MONTANA ENGINE REBUILDERS, INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 213 N 10TH STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | BILLINGS |
| Aircraft Owner State | MT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 59101 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | ROBERT K. CORDRAY |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 720 WHISPERING OAK |
| Operator City | OKLAHOMA CITY |
| Operator State | OK |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 73127 |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | HSD |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1714 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| 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 | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| 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 | -- |