Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Quemado, New Mexico 87829
Monday, October 18, 1999 10:10 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While visiting a repair facility in California to have minor repair work performed on the aircraft, the pilot was visited at his request by a man who sold him the engine's carburetor foam air filter. The man inspected the filter and it appeared 'aged' and 'crumbly.' The pilot declined to have the filter replaced, and the pilot then reinstalled it. After an overnight stop in Arizona while en route back to his home town in Texas, the pilot contacted Albuquerque ARTCC and reported a rough running engine. He requested vectors to the closest airport, but was never identified on radar. The last transmission from the pilot was received at 1008, and the aircraft was located by a local rancher several hours later. The airplane was landed on a dry dirt field parallel to a forrest road and directly perpendicular to another gravel road. The touchdown speed was estimated to be excess of 100 knots, and the aircraft's owners manual recommends 55 knots on a rough field. Following the accident, the engine was test run. Black smoke exited from the exhaust and the engine ran rough. An internal examination of the carburetor revealed that the foam air filter had been torn and pulled through the throat of the injector, causing a restriction in airflow.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's selection of an unsuitable landing area on which to make a precautionary landing, and his excessive airspeed during landing touchdown. Factors were the ingestion of the foam air filter into the throat of the injector, and the pilot's failure to replace the worn air filter.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/18/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1010 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | QUEMADO |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87829 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| 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 | Full |
| 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 | 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| 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 | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1056 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 18 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1422 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2001 9:53AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N13WM |
| NTSB Number | DEN00FA007 |
| 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 | Gardner |
| Aircraft Model | VARIEZE |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | VARIEZE |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 218 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1350 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 4 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JOHN B. CANNON |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4204 TIMBERVIEW |
| Aircraft Owner City | MCKINNEY |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75070 |
| 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 | SJN |
| Departure City | ST. JOHNS |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 850 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ABQ |
| Destination City | ALBUQUERQUE |
| Destination State | NM |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2001 12:27PM |
| 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 | -- |