Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Boulder City Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Boulder City, Nevada 89005
Friday, October 22, 1999 15:07 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot of the amateur-built airplane took off and entered the traffic pattern. A witness heard the pilot announce his position in the pattern. About 10 seconds later, while the airplane was maintaining a level flight cruise attitude, the airplane began descending, and it turned toward the runway. The witness further reported that the airplane's descent rate increased and the pilot broadcast, "I've got a problem." The airplane appeared to descend at a 30- to 40-degree nose down angle. It impacted a berm about 1 mile short of the landing threshold. This was the first flight following the pilot's installation of the new propeller assembly. Prior to taking off, a witness observed the pilot make a wiring change to the propeller's pitch control electric drive motor. The change was intended to reduce the time necessary to vary the pitch through its full range of travel from 15 to between 7 and 8 seconds. The on-scene examination of the assembly revealed that the wire was disconnected, and the blade pitch was found about the 2-degree (flat blade) position, which would produce considerable drag in flight. No internal malfunctions to the propeller assembly were noted. The pilot, a retired airline captain, was not the builder of the airplane. He did not possess either a repairman or a FAA Airframe & Powerplant certificate.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to secure an electrical wire terminal in the propeller pitch control circuit following a maintenance adjustment, which resulted in the propeller malfunctioning and going to a flat pitch. The flat pitch of the propeller produced a high drag which precluded the aircraft from maintaining flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/22/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1507 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | BOULDER CITY |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89005 |
| 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 | BOULDER CITY MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 61B |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 150 |
| Airport Elevation | 2201 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1456 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 290 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LAS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2179 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 16 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2600 |
| 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) | 81 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 26 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11165 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 22 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 14 2001 9:59AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N62765 |
| NTSB Number | LAX00LA023 |
| 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 | Luhnau |
| Aircraft Model | BD-5B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | BD-5B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4425 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 890 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 16 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0 |
| Airframe Hours | 70 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CLARENCE S. FOLSOM, JR. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | NV |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 61B |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1507 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 61B |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 1 2001 4:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 33 |
| Runway Length | 3850 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |