Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Corvallis, Oregon 97333
Saturday, August 31, 2002 9:20 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During a telephone conversation with an investigator from the NTSB, the pilot reported that the airplane began to lose power shortly after takeoff from the Corvallis Airport. He reported that he was unable to restore engine power and elected to perform an off-airport landing to a nearby open field. He reported that the airplane touched down hard and the gear collapsed. He also reported that he was unable to recall any specific engine instrument readings or warning lights in the cockpit before, during or after the power failure. The initial onsite investigation was conducted by an inspector from the Portland, Oregon, Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) on the day of the accident. During the examination the inspector noted that the left main fuel supply line, at the quick connect coupler, was disconnected. No damage was noted to the fuel line or associated coupler. A test run of the accident aircraft's converted Solar gas turbine engine was conducted at Apex Gas Turbines, Silverdale, Washington. The test was conducted with the engine mounted on a test stand. The engine was successfully started and run at multiple power settings. No operating malfunctions or anomalies were noted during the test run.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Fuel starvation resulting in a loss of engine power during the aircraft's initial climb. A disconnected fuel line was a factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/31/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 920 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Corvallis |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97333 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 442950N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1231723W |
| 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 | 1.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 135 |
| Airport Elevation | 246 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 935 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 315 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CVO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 246 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.17 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13120 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 31 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1031 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 1 2003 7:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Portland (Hillsboro), OR |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N50TX |
| NTSB Number | SEA02LA168 |
| 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 | Nolley |
| Aircraft Model | BD-5 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | -- |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 860 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 18.6 |
| Airframe Hours | 18.6 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Mell B. Nolley |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Castries |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | WN |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| 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 | CVO |
| Departure City | Corvallis |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 900 |
| 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 | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 6 2003 12:05PM |
| 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 | -- |