Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Norfork, Arkansas 72652
Thursday, November 28, 2002 14:56 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Shortly after takeoff, the homebuilt experimental airplane lost power approximately 100 feet AGL. During the ensuing forced landing, and the airplane descended through trees and came to rest upright. Examination of the engine revealed water in the carburetor bowl. According to the pilot, the airplane was flown for 5 hours in the past 90 days and the fuel tank was left half full for a "long time" before being filled prior to the day of the flight. The pilot reported that he had sumped the fuel tank during pre-flight prior to the accident flight.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The loss of engine power due to fuel contamination. Contributing to the accident were the trees.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/28/2002
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1456
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Norfork
Event State ARKANSAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 72652
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 360956N
Event Location Longitude 0920842W
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 Unknown
Investigator's weather source Witness
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 --
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) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.3
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 14005
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Nov 28 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1751
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 30 2003 9:55AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Little Rock, Arkansas

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4672D
NTSB Number FTW03LA052
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 Shepherd
Aircraft Model Kolb Mark III
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 0100
Certified Max Gross Weight 1000
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 --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 203
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Dallas Shepherd
Aircraft Owner Street Address 983 Sheid Road
Aircraft Owner City Norfork
Aircraft Owner State AR
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 76252
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 NONE
Departure City Norfork
Departure State A
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1314
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code NONE
Destination City Norfork
Destination State AR
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 23 2003 12:09PM
User who most recently changed record CASH
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 --