Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Birchwood Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Chugiak, Alaska 99567
Sunday, October 15, 2000 13:40 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The private certificated pilot reported he was asked by the owner to fly a newly homebuilt experimental airplane to evaluate its handling characteristics. The pilot owns a similar homebuilt airplane. The pilot said he briefly flew the airplane in the past. To maintain level flight, the pilot said he had to hold the flight control stick to the right and forward of a neutral position. Additionally, he had to hold left rudder pressure to maintain a straight and level flight attitude. The pilot also said that he thought the airplane seemed airworthy. The owner of the airplane asked the pilot to fly one more time before any changes were made to the rigging of the flight controls. The pilot said he operated the airplane on the ground for about 20 minutes, and then departed to conduct some touch and go landings. The airplane required the same out-of-neutral positioning of the controls as the previous flight. The pilot made one low pass to the runway, and was following another airplane that had extended its downwind landing pattern. The pilot said he was at 500 feet msl when the engine, a Rotax 582, suddenly quit. The airplane entered an uncommanded right spin. He recovered the airplane from the spin above tree-top level and had insufficient altitude to land at the airport. The pilot made a forced landing in a swampy area with the landing gear in the down position. The right wing struck the ground and broke off. The pilot reported that the engine lost compression.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A total loss of engine power due to a piston failure. Factors in the accident were an out-of-rig flight control system, an inadvertent stall, and no suitable terrain for a forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/15/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1340 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | CHUGIAK |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99567 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | BIRCHWOOD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PABV |
| 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 | 225 |
| Airport Elevation | 96 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1335 Atlantic Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 96 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | ADT |
| 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) | 5 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| 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) | 1045 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA REGIONAL OPERATIONS CENTER |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 15 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 2 2001 3:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N126DW |
| NTSB Number | ANC01LA008 |
| 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 | Weste |
| Aircraft Model | AVID |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | AVID |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 026 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1200 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DON A. WESTE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 8330 DAGAN ST. |
| Aircraft Owner City | ANCHORAGE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99502 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | KEN M. BOZE |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 3501 W. 31ST AVE. |
| Operator City | ANCHORAGE |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 99517 |
| 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 | PABV |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1320 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| 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 | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 2 2001 4:08AM |
| 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 | -- |