Independence Airpark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Independence, Oregon 97351
Sunday, June 9, 2002 9:25 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

About 20 minutes into the experimental aircraft's first flight after the completion of its construction, the Volkswagen 1835 engine slowly began to lose power. Immediately after the pilot discovered he had a problem with the engine, he turned toward the approach end of the field he had departed from in hopes of making a precautionary landing if necessary. As he headed back toward the airport, the aircraft continued to lose power, and it became apparent that he would not be able to stretch the glide far enough to land on the paved runway. Because the terrain between him and the runway was not suitable for landing and was crossed by power lines, and because the berm that ran along the side of the runway made it unsafe to land perpendicular to the runway, the pilot decided he would try to land parallel to the runway in a mowed grass area adjacent to it. Although he was able to stretch the glide to an extent that allowed him to reach the airport boundary, the aircraft had lost so much altitude that when he attempted to make the turn to parallel the runway, the aircraft's right wing tip impacted the terrain. A post-accident inspection of the engine determined that the distributor position locking clamp bolt had not been retightened after a pre-installation engine test run. The lose distributor then slowly rotated while the aircraft was airborne, resulting in a slow but steady loss of power.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The partial loss of engine power in maneuvering flight due to the rotation of the ignition distributor as a result of a failure to tighten the distributor positioning clamp after the last engine timing adjustment. Factors include an inadequate maintenance activity, no suitable landing terrain below the location where the loss of power occurred, and power lines along the emergency descent flight path.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/9/2002
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 925
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Independence
Event State OREGON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 97351
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Independence Airpark
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 7S5
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.1
Degrees magnetic from airport 340
Airport Elevation 175
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 40
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 330
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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) 12377
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Jun 9 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1105
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Oct 24 2002 3:20PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Portland FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N132DC
NTSB Number SEA02FA097
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 Lewis
Aircraft Model Nieuport 11
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 008
Certified Max Gross Weight 875
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 Jun 1 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 0.4
Airframe Hours 0.4
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Doyle L. Lewis
Aircraft Owner Street Address On File
Aircraft Owner City Salem
Aircraft Owner State OR
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 97301
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 7S5
Departure City Independence
Departure State OR
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 905
Departure Time Zone PDT
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 Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jul 15 2002 12:40PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
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 --