Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rockledge, Florida 32955
Saturday, January 17, 1998 17:15 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
About forty-five minutes into the flight, several witnesses reported hearing and seeing the airplane before the accident. Witness accounts of the airplane ranged from hearing the engine sputtering to no interruption in engine power. Witnesses reported that the airplane collided with a tree and burst into flames. An examination of the accident site disclosed that wreckage debris was scattered over an area 55 feet wide and 80 feet long. The aircraft impacted the ground in a 60 to 70 degree nose low attitude. Further examination of the accident site disclosed that airplane collided with a tree along the wreckage path prior to the airplane's collision with the ground. The wreckage examination also disclosed that the entire airframe was fire damaged and the composite material, of which the airplane was constructed, was melted. Examination of the airplane failed to disclose a mechanical problem. Examination of the engine assembly also failed to disclose any pre-existing mechanical problems that would have prevented normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power for undetermined reasons. A factor was the trees in the emergency landing area.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/17/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1715 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | ROCKLEDGE |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32955 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1750 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 195 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MLB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 35 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 300 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 291 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 17 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1730 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 16 2001 11:54AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N656AC |
| NTSB Number | ATL98LA032 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Via Inc |
| Aircraft Model | AERO COMP AC6 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | AERO COMP |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 96125 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 18 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 67 |
| Airframe Hours | 67 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | VIA INC OF MERRITT ISLAND |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 900 AIRPORT ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | MERRITT ISLAND |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32952 |
| 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 | COI |
| Departure City | MERRITT ISLAND |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1610 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| 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 | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2001 6:29PM |
| 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 | -- |