Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Belle Fourche Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Belle Fourche, South Dakota 57715
Monday, August 6, 2001 8:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane impacted the terrain during an aborted takeoff. The pilot reported the purpose of the flight was to check the propeller pitch because he had adjusted it. He reported that airplane was "sluggish" during the initial takeoff climb so he leveled off. He reported he checked the engine temperature and rpm, and the engine was close to "over revving." The pilot reported that because he had difficulty maintaining altitude, he decided to abort the takeoff by turning left into the wind so he could land on the grass alongside the runway. The pilot reported the airplane contacted the grass "…with a strong side load on the landing gear." Post accident inspection of the airplane revealed the propeller had been adjusted to too high of a pitch setting.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot failed to maintain aircraft control during the forced landing. A factor associated with the accident was the excessive adjustment that the pilot made to the propeller's pitch prior to the flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/6/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 830 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Belle Fourche |
| Event State | SOUTH DAKOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 57715 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Belle Fourche Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | EFC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 3190 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 855 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 140 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RAP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3202 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 55 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.27 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 4995 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11737 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 6 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1313 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2002 12:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Rapid City, SD FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N312GR |
| NTSB Number | CHI01LA262 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Grice |
| Aircraft Model | Avid Flyer |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1260D |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1250 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 7 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 33 |
| Airframe Hours | 173 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Hal D. Mathews |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 961 Road E 170 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Keystone |
| Aircraft Owner State | NE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 69144 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | EFC |
| Departure City | Belle Fourche |
| Departure State | SD |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 830 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | EFC |
| Destination City | Belle Fourche |
| Destination State | SD |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 13 2002 9:46AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 14 |
| Runway Length | 4498 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |