Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Wellington, Nevada 89444
Saturday, November 1, 1997 9:30 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

All engine power was suddenly lost while cruising over mountainous terrain in the pilot's experimental airplane. The pilot made a forced landing on a soft, brush-covered field, and during rollout the airplane nosed over. The pilot indicated that the power loss resulted from the engine's mixture control cable breaking due to fatigue at its carburetor attachment fitting. The component had a total time in service of 114 hours.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Fuel starvation due to a fatigue fractured mixture control cable. Contributing factors were the soft, brush-covered emergency landing field.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/1/1997
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 930
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City WELLINGTON
Event State NEVADA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 89444
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 11
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 Not pertinent
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) 50
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 16
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
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) 1622
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Nov 12 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1458
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:40PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N44JR
NTSB Number LAX98LA037
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 Rodgers/Gaust
Aircraft Model RV-6
Aircraft Series Identifier RV-6
Aircraft Serial Number 24545
Certified Max Gross Weight 1600
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 May 2 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 114
Airframe Hours 114
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name JERRY T. RODGERS
Aircraft Owner Street Address 487 E. SOUTH STREET
Aircraft Owner City BISHOP
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 93514
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 BIH
Departure City BISHOP
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 830
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code O04
Destination City CARSON CITY
Destination State NV
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
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 --