Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Lake Persimmon Airstrip Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lake Placid, Florida 33852
Thursday, July 4, 2002 13:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he was conducting a test flight and had just made a low pass over the runway, and was turning to base when he noticed a reduction in engine rpms. He said he "steepened" the turn in an attempt to make it back to the runway, and stalled the airplane. He said the airplane fell like a rock, impacting the ground with the right wing down, at a near 45-degree angle with the horizontal, shattering the wooden right wing and damaging the fuselage. An FAA licensed airframe and powerplant mechanic with an inspection authorization rating, examined the accident airplane and stated that the engine had been improperly installed and had not been properly vented back to the expansion tank. He said he found hot spots on the cylinder head, consistent with there having been trapped air in the cylinder head, which resulted in excessive internal temperatures in the engine causing it to cease operating.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed and his inflight loss of control while maneuvering to land following an engine failure. Contributing to the accident was the builder/owner's improper engine installation that resulted in engine overheating and ceasing to operate.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/4/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Lake Placid |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33852 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 272111N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0812429W |
| Event Location Airport | Lake Persimmon Airstrip |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | O3FA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 90 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 245 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VRB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 25 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 60 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4100 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1400 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12432 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Orlando FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 4 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1400 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 23 2002 10:24AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Orlando, FL |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | None |
| NTSB Number | MIA02LA121 |
| 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 | Kenneth Parmerter |
| Aircraft Model | Loehle 5151 Mustang |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Kenneth Parmerter |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 20 Hillside Drive South |
| Aircraft Owner City | Lake Placid |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33852 |
| 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) | Flight Test |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 03FA |
| Departure City | Lake Placid |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1327 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 03FA |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - downwind |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 30 2002 12:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 09 |
| Runway Length | 2100 |
| Runway Width | 180 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |