Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Baraboo, Wisconsin 53913
Thursday, June 14, 1990 14:10 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE AMATEUR BUILT AIRCRAFT WAS BEING FLOWN ON AN EXPERIMENTAL TEST FLIGHT. DURING INITIAL CLIMB A PARTIAL POWER LOSS WAS INDICATED, FOLLOWED BY AN IN-FLIGHT FIRE IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. A FORCED LANDING WAS INITIATED IN A FIELD WHERE THE RIGHT MAIN LANDING GEAR STRUCK ROUGH TERRAIN AND THE FUEL TANK (WET WING) RUPTURED. SUBSEUQENTLY THE FIRE PROPAGATED TO THE LEAKING FUEL AND CONSUMED TE AIRCRAFT. FUEL INJECTOR LINES WERE OF THE VINYL PLASTIC (AUTOMOTIVE) TYPE AND HAD LEAKED INTO THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

MANUFACTURER'S INADEQUATE EQUIPMENT DESIGN TO PREVENT A FUEL LEAK WHICH RESULTED IN AN IN-FLIGHT FIRE. A FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE LACK OF AN UNSUITABLE FORCED LANDING AREA.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/14/1990
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1410
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City BARABOO
Event State WISCONSIN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 53913
Event Date Year 1990
Event Date Month 6
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 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1552 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 150
Weather Observation Facility ID MSN
Elevation of weather observation facility 862
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 35
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 25000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Thin Broken
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) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 350
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 0
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency FAA
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1132
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jun 14 1990 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1500
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 42351
Date of most recent change to record Dec 12 2000 5:02PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N888EK
NTSB Number CHI90DEP05
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire In-flight
Aircraft Explosion In-flight
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CIRRUS KLAPPMEIER
Aircraft Model CIRRUS VF-30
Aircraft Series Identifier CIRRUS VF-
Aircraft Serial Number 008
Certified Max Gross Weight 3550
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection 0
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name KLAPMEIER, ALAN L.
Aircraft Owner Street Address S7690 FREEDOM ROAD
Aircraft Owner City NORTH FREEDOM
Aircraft Owner State WI
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 53951
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 06
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 C85
Departure City BARBADO
Departure State WI
Departure Country
Departure Time 1409
Departure Time Zone CDT
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 Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
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 --