Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Crystal River Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Crystal River, Florida 34423
Thursday, April 4, 2002 9:34 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight departed with a sufficient quantity of fuel on a flight in which the owner of the airplane was required by his insurance company to fly with a CFI a total of 10 hours. After takeoff with a sufficient quantity of fuel on-board, the proceeded to a nearby area, and during the cruise portion of the flight, a discrepancy with the propeller was noted. The flight then proceeded to return based on the fact that the lesson was over, not based on the propeller problem though it did concern him. While flying at 1,000 feet msl approximately 3.5 to 4.0 miles northeast of the departure airport with one auxiliary fuel pump off and the other on, the engine suddenly quit. The owner placed the throttle control full forward, and he (CFI) advised the owner to maintain best glide airspeed of 75 miles-per-hour and fly towards the runway at Crystal River airport. The auxiliary fuel pump that was off, was turned on, and a radio call was made on the Crystal River Airport UNICOM frequency advising that the flight would be landing runway 27 (opposite the active runway). The engine started and operated for approximately 10 seconds after the throttle was placed in the midrange position, then quit. The engine starter was activated which started the engine only momentarily before quitting again. He couldn't recall if the propeller stopped but did report that the fuel selector and ignition switch were in the "both" position. The owner failed to maintain the best glide airspeed; the airplane was maneuvered towards a nearby golf course. He gave up in attempting to start the engine and advised the owner that he (CFI) had the airplane. He advised the owner to tighten his seatbelt, and lined up to land on a fairway. He reported he "misjudged the glide", and just before touchdown while flying at the best glide airspeed of 75 mph, the right wing of the airplane collided with something. The airplane then pitched nose down and to the right impacting the ground. He reported that he believes that if the right wing had not collided with something, he would have made the fairway. He estimated the total airborne time was 35-40 minutes, and all engine parameters were OK from the beginning of the takeoff where full rpm (5,900) was achieved, up to the point when the engine suddenly quit. There was no warning in his headset when the engine quit, and there was no vibration in the airframe before or after the engine quit. He couldn't recall securing the electrical system before the forced landing on the fairway. He stated that he has experienced fuel starvation in-flight before and feels the total loss of engine power experienced on the accident flight was similar to his previous experience. Initial examination of the engine revealed residual fuel in both carburetor bowls. Impact or missing ignition system, fuel delivery, and propeller system components were replaced for an attempted non-turbocharged engine run. The engine was operated and developed approximately 5,600 rpm, no discrepancies were noted with the cooling, or lubrication systems during the engine run.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to undetermined reasons. A factor in the accident was the pilot-in-command misjudging the proper glidepath resulting in the in-flight collision with a tree and subsequent uncontrolled in-flight collision with the ground.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/4/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 934 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Crystal River |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 34423 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 285158N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0823327W |
| Event Location Airport | Crystal River Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KCGC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.81 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 92 |
| Airport Elevation | 9 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 915 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 39 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OCF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 89 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 26 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.13 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13256 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Citrus County Sheriff Departme |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 4 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1020 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 23 2003 12:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Tampa, Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N60980 |
| NTSB Number | MIA02LA078 |
| 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 | Ultravia Aero Int', Inc. |
| Aircraft Model | Pelican Club PL |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 661 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 15 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 15 |
| Airframe Hours | 350 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | "Registration Pending" |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 2333 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Crystal River |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 344232333 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Hartmut W. Goethe |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | CGC |
| Departure City | Crystal River |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 915 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| 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 | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 13 2003 8:41AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |