Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gary, Indiana 46401
Sunday, April 14, 2002 21:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane contacted a light pole during a forced landing following a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. The airplane was topped off with fuel (31 gallons) prior to the four leg cross country flight. The pilot reported that on departure for the last leg the airplane veered right during the takeoff roll. Upon reaching his destination airport, he aborted the landing due to a lack of directional control. He then decided to fly to a larger near-by airport. Prior to reaching this airport, the engine lost power. The pilot selected a street on which to make a forced landing. He reported that during the landing the airplane "Veered to the right, having spun clockwise relative to the forward vector. The plane struck a city light pole." The pilot used a fuel burn of 4.5 gallons per hour based on a Continental C-85 engine. However, the engine had been modified with a crankshaft, pistons, and rods for a O-200 engine. The pilot reported that after the accident, he estimated that he burned approximately 50 percent more fuel than he calculated. Following the accident the right brake rotor was found bent and locked against the caliper. The pilot speculated that he may have hit something during the last takeoff roll.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot was unable to maintain directional control of the airplane during the forced landing due to a locked brake. Factors associated with the accident were the pilot's inaccurate fuel consumption calculations which resulted in fuel exhaustion and the light pole.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/14/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2100 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Gary |
| Event State | INDIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 46401 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2050 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GYY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 592 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Bright |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 8500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.73 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1777 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12581 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Lake Co. Sheriff |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 14 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2135 |
| 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 | South Bend, IN FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N97JW |
| NTSB Number | CHI02LA104 |
| 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 | Hoagland |
| Aircraft Model | Varieze |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2103 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1050 |
| 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 | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 1 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 290 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John J. Markey, Jr. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6621 W. 86th Court |
| Aircraft Owner City | Crown Point |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 46307 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | JWN |
| Departure City | Nashville |
| Departure State | TN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1650 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 05C |
| Destination City | Griffith |
| Destination State | IN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 7 2002 11:31AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |