Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Colfax, Wisconsin 54730
Sunday, September 7, 2003 15:10 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane impacted the terrain in a 50-degree nose down attitude following a loss of control while maneuvering. Witness reported seeing the airplane flying at low altitudes in the area of the accident. One witness reported the engine sounded fine. Another witness reported hearing changes in engine speed as the airplane banked and turned left and right. A third witness, 13 miles away from the accident site, reported seeing the airplane and hearing the engine being turned off and then restarted. This witness stated this occurred at least 3 times. This witness stated: " The plane was approximately 1,000 feet up. When it shut its engines [engine] off it would loose [lose] altitude gradually & then restart. It did not sound as if it were having trouble restarting each time. There was no sputtering or coughing. It sounded like good 'clean' shut offs & restarts." The wreckage was located at 1530 when the land owner returned home. Post accident inspection failed to reveal any failure/malfunction of the airframe, control systems, or engine that would have resulted in the loss of control.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot failed to maintain adequate airspeed while maneuvering which resulted in an inadvertent stall. A factor associated with the accident was the low altitude at which the pilot was maneuvering.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/7/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1510 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Colfax |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 54730 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 450132N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0913558W |
| 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 | 10 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 15 |
| Airport Elevation | 895 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1256 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EAU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 907 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 16 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2976 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16827 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 7 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1700 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 28 2004 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Milwaukee, WI FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4103E |
| NTSB Number | CHI03FA301 |
| 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 | Aeronca |
| Aircraft Model | 11BC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 11CC-12 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1250 |
| 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 | 2 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Keith M. Wolf |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Stillwater |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 55082 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Thomas E. Sarauer |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Inver Grove |
| Operator State | MN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 55076 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | Colfax |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| 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 | Descent - uncontrolled |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 20 2004 10:32AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |