Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Cincinnati-Lunken Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cincinnati, Ohio 45227
Thursday, March 28, 2002 15:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Shortly after takeoff, while the airplane was climbing through an estimated 300 feet, the engine lost power. The pilot saw he had terrain obstructions straight ahead and to the right, and jet traffic on the ground to the left. He attempted to land between parallel runways, but approaching the touchdown area, saw there was unsuitable terrain in the form of bogs and ditches. The pilot then continued to turn another 90-120 degrees to the left. The airplane "ran out of airspeed," and the left wheel caught the side of the runway. The left main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane flipped over. This was the first flight after an annual inspection. During the inspection, the carburetor was replaced, and the carburetor float had also been changed. Post-accident examination revealed that the carburetor float was out of adjustment.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The maintenance technician's failure to properly adjust the carburetor float. Factors were the unsuitable terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/28/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Cincinnati |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 45227 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Cincinnati-Lunken Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LUK |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LUK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 484 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| 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) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.02 |
| 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) | 12623 |
| NTSB Notification Source | CVG FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 29 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1100 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 16 2003 4:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Cincinnati |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N27838 |
| NTSB Number | NYC02LA077 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | J4A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4-1059 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1301 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 28 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 2511 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Larry D. Bourgeois and Lisa Wharton |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cincinnati |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 45227 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Larry Bourgeois |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | LUK |
| Departure City | Cincinnati |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | LUK |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | OH |
| 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 | Jul 31 2002 2:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 21R |
| Runway Length | 3802 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |