Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ingersoll Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Canton, Illinois 61520
Monday, July 21, 2003 20:39 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was substantially damaged during a forced landing following a complete loss of engine power. The pilot stated: "Boost pump was turned on [in preparation for landing]; engine immediately hesitated for 1-2 seconds and then failed (to windmill state)." The pilot's attempts to restart the engine were not successful. Unable to make the runway, the pilot decided to execute a forced landing straight ahead; approximately one-quarter mile from of the airport. The aircraft impacted a bean field and struck a berm, shearing off the landing gear. According to the pilot, approximately ten miles from the destination and prior to the engine failure, he switched from the main fuel tanks to the auxiliary fuel tank. He reported the "switch over was made using boost pump for approximately 30 seconds. Engine operation after switch over was smooth." He noted the elasped flight time at the time the tanks were changed was about 3 hours. The aircraft's main fuel tank capacity was 39-1/2 gallons and fuel burn rate was about 12 gallons per hour. A total of four gallons of fuel was recovered from the main fuel tanks. The auxiliary fuel tank was about half full. The fuel selector was set to the aux tank. A post-accident inspection of the engine revealed that when the electric fuel pump was activated, fuel was observed leaking from the carburetor. The carburetor was subsequently bench tested and torn down. Movement of the mixture control was "sluggish." Of the ten data points measured during the bench test, flow rates at two were determined to be slightly out of acceptable standards. All other test points measured within acceptable limits. No external leakage was observed. Upon teardown, the mixture control needle and spring were found to be covered with grease. According to the manufacturer, the anomalies noted during the carburetor exam would not be expected to significantly affect engine performance or contribute to the loss of power reported by the pilot. According to the Federal Aviation Administration Type Certificate Data Sheet for the L-17A, all auxiliary fuel tank installations are required to have a placard in clear view of the pilot restricting use of the aux tank to level flight only. A placard was not present in the aircraft when inspected after the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A complete loss of engine power during landing approach for undetermined reasons, as well as the unsuitable terrain for a forced landing encountered by the pilot. Contributing factors were the berm and the crops.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/21/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 2039 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Canton |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 61520 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 403415N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0900449W |
| Event Location Airport | Ingersoll |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CTK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 90 |
| Airport Elevation | 684 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2054 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 70 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PIA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 660 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.81 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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) | 16008 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 22 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 830 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 1 2004 7:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA -- Springfield FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2968C |
| NTSB Number | CHI03LA221 |
| 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 | Navion |
| Aircraft Model | L-17A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | NAV-4-1070 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2750 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 32 |
| Airframe Hours | 5300 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Neil K. Hammond |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 8978 Tuttle Creek Blvd. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Manhattan |
| Aircraft Owner State | KS |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 66503 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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 | DLZ |
| Departure City | Delaware |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1715 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | CTK |
| Destination City | Canton |
| Destination State | IL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - final approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 8 2004 12:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | DINC |
| 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 | -- |