Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Immokalee Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Immokalee, Florida 34142
Saturday, June 14, 2003 13:20 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot/owner stated that he is the builder of the airplane, and was in cruise flight, at an altitude of 2,900 feet, operating on the flywheel-triggered ignition system, collecting performance data. He said he began a descent, and at 2,600 feet, about 5.6 miles from his destination, the engine suddenly ceased operating. He said he switched to the distributor ignition, observed normal fuel pressure and verified that there was adequate fuel in the header tank. He said he then communicated his emergency to air traffic control, and again attempted to restart the engine using the starter with both ignitions, but was unable to get the engine to start. He then made an approach to land in a field and during the landing rollout, the airplane flipped over due to the soft muddy soil, incurring substantial damage to the aircraft. The pilot/owner stated that after the accident he examined the airplane to determine the reason the engine had ceased to operate, and he found that the distributor rotor had failed due to excessive shaft clearance. He said that the excessive clearance had allowed the rotor to wobble in its rotation, and contact the pins within the cap, which had resulted in the metal contact at the top, separating from the plastic base.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Excessive rotor distributor shaft clearance that resulted in damage to the distributor rotor, a loss of ignition, the engine ceasing to operate. This resulted in a forced landing to unsuitable terrain and the airplane nosing over.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/14/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1320 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Immokalee |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 34142 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 262559N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0812403W |
| Event Location Airport | Immokalee |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | APF |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | APF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 9 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1800 |
| 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) | 15349 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ATL Comm. Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 14 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1410 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 28 2004 3:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Miami, Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N601G |
| NTSB Number | MIA03LA123 |
| 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 | Zenith |
| Aircraft Model | 601HDS |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6-3340 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1300 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 8 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 175 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | George R. Fetzer |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 125 Madison Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Naples |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34110 |
| 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 | APF |
| Departure City | Naples |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | IMM |
| Destination City | Immokalee |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 2 2004 10:27AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |