Hill City Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Hill City, Kansas 67642
Sunday, July 18, 1993 11:32 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

WITNESSES REPORTED THE ACCIDENT AIRPLANE MADE A LOW PASS FROM NORTH TO SOUTH ALONG THE RUNWAY, AND DROPPED THE BANNER IT WAS TOWING. THEY STATED THE PILOT ADDED POWER AND BEGAN A LEFT CLIMBING TURN. WITNESSES ESTIMATED THE AIRPLANE WAS BETWEEN 50 AND 150 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND WHEN THE ENGINE SPUTTERED AND QUIT. THE AIRPLANE ENTERED A STEEP LEFT TURN, AND PITCHED NOSE DOWN TO THE GROUND. WITNESSES STATED THE AIRPLANE HAD BEEN TOWING BANNERS OVERHEAD THROUGHOUT THE MORNING. THEY REPORTED THE ENGINE SEEMED TO BE CONSISTENTLY RUNNING ROUGH, COUGHING AND SPUTTERING. POSTACCIDENT EXAMINATION AND ENGINE RUNUP REVEALED NO EVIDENCE OF PREIMPACT MECHANICAL ANOMALY.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the loss of engine power for an undetermined reason and the pilot's decision to continue flying the airplane with known deficiencies. Factors in the accident are the lack of suitable terrain available for a forced landing, the airplane's low altitude, and the pilot's inadvertent stall of the airplane.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/18/1993
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1132
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City HILL CITY
Event State KANSAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 67642
Event Date Year 1993
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport HILL CITY MUNICIPAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID HLC
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 2224
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Witness
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 15000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1700
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 90
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) --
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) 1650
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 18 1993 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1300
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 11 2000 1:27PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N11AT
NTSB Number CHI93LA260
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 None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CHAMPION
Aircraft Model 7KCAB
Aircraft Series Identifier 7KCAB
Aircraft Serial Number 279-70
Certified Max Gross Weight 1650
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Oct 5 1992 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 29
Airframe Hours 2130
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name SUPER, BILLY M. & BERNICE I.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 553 E. 7TH STREET
Aircraft Owner City RUSSELL
Aircraft Owner State KS
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 67665
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name SUPER, BILLY M. & BERNICE I.
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address 553 E. 7TH STREET
Operator City RUSSELL
Operator State KS
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 67665
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 Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1030
Departure Time Zone CDT
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 Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:30AM
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 --