Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Jerry Tyler Memorial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Niles, Michigan 49120
Sunday, May 21, 1989 15:06 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
WITNESSES RPRTD THE ACFT'S ENG LOST POWER DURING A TURN ONTO BASE LEG. THE ACFT WAS THEN MANEUVERED IN A 360 DEG TURN, AS IF TO LAND IN A FIELD. AS IT WAS BEING MANEUVERED, IT ENTERED A STEEP DESCENT & IMPACTED THE GROUND. A POST-ACDNT EXAM REVEALED THAT BOTH CARBURETORS WERE LOOSE. CONFIGURATION OF THE ENG REQUIRED THAT EACH CARBURETOR BE SECURED WITH 2 CLAMPS. ONLY 3 OF THE 4 CLAMPS WERE FOUND DESPITE AN EXTENSIVE SEARCH. THE HOME BUILT ACFT WAS ON ITS 3RD FLT & WAS BEING FLOWN FROM AN EAA FLY-IN BY THE 2 BUILDERS WHEN THE ACDNT OCCURRED.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
LOOSE CARBURETOR(S) DUE TO IMPROPER MAINTENANCE/INSTALLATION, WHICH RESULTED IN FUEL STARVATION AND LOSS OF ENGINE POWER; AND FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE AIRSPEED WHILE MANEUVERING FOR A FORCED LANDING, WHICH RESULTED IN AN INADVERTENT STALL AND SUBSEQUENT IMPACT WITH THE GROUND.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/21/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1506 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | NILES |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49120 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | JERRY TYLER MEMORIAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 3TR |
| 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 | 743 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1350 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 210 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SBN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 799 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| 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) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | FAA |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2158 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 21 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1415 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 41836 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 12:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N305BJ |
| NTSB Number | CHI89DET05 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BILLINGS/WHITE |
| Aircraft Model | AVID FLYER |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | AVID FLYER |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 305 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 911 |
| 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 | Sep 8 1988 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 18 |
| Airframe Hours | 18 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | J. O. BILLINGS/ C. E. WHITE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4048 GLEN ORCHARD DR. |
| Aircraft Owner City | ST. JOSEPH |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 49085 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BEH |
| Departure City | BENTON HARBOR |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| 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 | 32 |
| Runway Length | 4100 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |