Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Shannon Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fredericksburg, Virginia 22401
Thursday, June 22, 2000 15:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot adjusted the homebuilt airplane's propeller pitch and after a normal ground run-up he departed for a test flight. He stated that the takeoff was normal and the engine sounded 'smooth.' After reaching an altitude of about 300 to 400 feet (agl), the airplane experienced a sharp reduction in power. The RPM dropped from 6,600 to 5,700; however, the engine sound remained constant. The pilot retarded the throttle and then advanced the throttle forward. The engine RPM increased momentarily then dropped to about 5,000 RPM. The pilot was unable to maintain altitude and performed a forced landing to a cornfield. Examination of the airplane did not revealed any catastrophic airframe or engine malfunctions. Additionally, the airplane's engine ran smoothly during a post accident test run performed by the pilot; however, examination of the propeller reduction gearbox revealed that the steel cage of the sprague clutch bearing was 'cracked and partially disintegrated.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A failure of the propeller reduction gear assembly for undetermined reasons, which resulted in a loss of thrust.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/22/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | FREDERICKSBURG |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 22401 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | SHANNON |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | EZF |
| 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 | 85 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1538 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EZF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 85 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 7500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| 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) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 484 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern Region |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 22 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 25 2001 4:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N61HS |
| NTSB Number | NYC00LA176 |
| 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 | Schwarz |
| Aircraft Model | AVID AMPHIBIAN |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | AVID AMPHI |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 115A |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1500 |
| 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 | Sep 23 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 29 |
| Airframe Hours | 271 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HENRY E. SCHWARZ |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | ALEXANDRIA |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 22309 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | EZF |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1530 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 | May 25 2001 4:10AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 24 |
| Runway Length | 2910 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |