Denton Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Denton, Texas 76201
Saturday, November 3, 2001 15:00 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot had spent most of the day waxing his airplane and decided to fly it once around the pattern. The engine start-up, taxi, and engine run-up "indications were normal." While climbing out at 600 feet agl, the engine lost power. The pilot attempted, unsuccessfully, to restart the engine. During a forced landing to a field, the airplane impacted small trees and vegetation. Examination of the engine revealed it was "seized" and contained no oil. No evidence of an oil leak was found. The mechanic, who had been servicing the airplane, reported to the FAA inspector that he had drained the oil from the airplane's engine, left the airplane unattended, and had not replenished the oil prior to the accident flight.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to perform a preflight inspection, which resulted in a loss of total engine power due to oil starvation. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable training for the forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/3/2001
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1500
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Denton
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 76201
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport DENTON MUNI
Event Location Nearest Airport ID DTO
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 90
Airport Elevation 642
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1453 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 270
Weather Observation Facility ID DTO
Elevation of weather observation facility 645
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 7000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
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) 16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 110
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.23
Density Altitude (feet) --
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) 12105
NTSB Notification Source FAA Communications Center
NTSB Notification Date Nov 3 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1615
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Aug 26 2002 11:02AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Fort Worth, Texas

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N96LS
NTSB Number FTW02LA029
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 Landoll
Aircraft Model Vans RV 3-A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 10526
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 Nov 1 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 53.2
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name N96LS Club LTD
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3511 Silverside Rd Ste 105
Aircraft Owner City Wilmington
Aircraft Owner State DE
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19810
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Brendan P. Carmody
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 1020 S.E. 2nd Ave.
Operator City Dania
Operator State FL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 33004
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 DTO
Departure City Denton
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1455
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Denton
Destination State TX
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 Feb 8 2006 2:06PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\HAMG
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 17
Runway Length 6000
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --