Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Boomerang Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Harris, North Carolina 28074
Wednesday, July 12, 2000 12:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot flew to a nearby airport, landed, remained on the ground with the engine running, then elected to depart. During the initial climb about 50-100 feet agl, the engine experienced a loss of power. Unable to maintain altitude he maneuvered towards a sandbar in a river and while descending to fly beneath a trestle bridge that was between his location and the sandbar, the airplane collided with a wire beneath the bridge. The airplane veered to the right, descended and impacted with 'scrub trees/saplings' on a side of the river. Examination of the airplane revealed 'rust' from a fuel line between the header tank and the fuel shut-off valve. Removal of the rust revealed an increase in fuel flow to the carburetor. Cold differential compression testing of each cylinder revealed no cylinder was greater than 52 psi when using 80 psi as a reference. The last annual inspection occurred on February 3, 2000; the airplane had accumulated approximately 20 hours since then. No inspections were recorded between a periodic inspection on June 8, 1963, and an annual inspection December 12, 1994. The December 1994 entry indicates, 'Assembled aircraft after long term storage....' No record of fuel lines was noted.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The unsuitable terrain encountered by the pilot while descending for a forced landing. Contributing to the accident was the partial loss of engine power due a blocked fuel line resulting in fuel starvation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/12/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1230 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | HARRIS |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 28074 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | BOOMERANG AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NC02 |
| 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 | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 850 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1220 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FQD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1078 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3400 |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| 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 | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 969 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ATL. Comm. Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 12 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1428 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 2 2001 2:33PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N29416 |
| NTSB Number | MIA00LA220 |
| 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 | Aeronca |
| Aircraft Model | 65-TC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 65-TC |
| Aircraft Serial Number | L3080T |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1150 |
| 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 | Feb 3 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 2894 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | KENNETH C. TRAGER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 195 N. AIRPORT ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | TAVERNIER |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33070 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | THOMAS K. BUCHANAN, III |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 6947 WOODSTOCK DR. |
| Operator City | CHARLOTTE |
| Operator State | NC |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 28210 |
| 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 | NC02 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1229 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 8NC2 |
| Destination City | CAROLEEN |
| Destination State | NC |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 2 2001 4:09AM |
| 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 | -- |