Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wamsutter, Wyoming 82336
Thursday, September 18, 2003 12:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was being ferried to its new owner. The pilot said he was cruising at 8,000 feet msl (1,000 feet agl), using a power setting of 2,400 rpm with the mixture leaned "for altitude." About 1 hour after takeoff, the engine began "sputtering and backfiring." Engine power dropped from 2,400 rpm to approximately 1,000 to 1,100 rpm. Unable to restore power, the pilot made a forced landing on rough, uneven terrain. During the landing roll, the airplane struck a hole and nosed over, coming to rest inverted. The accident site was at an elevation of 6,955 feet msl. The pilot told a sheriff's deputy that "it was either engine failure or [the] carburetor iced up." Temperature and dew point recorded at an automated weather observation station (AWOS) station, located 48 miles east of the accident site, were 4 degrees and 0 degrees C., respectively. According to the Carburetor Icing Probability Chart, the temperature and dew point correspond to "serious icing at cruise power." The computed relative humidity was 76 percent. The pilot said he had had "carburetor ice before and the onset was always a gradual onset of power loss requiring changes in the throttle setting until ice was recognized. This was NOT the case in this incident as the power loss was instant and no actions affected it after they were tried." According to FAA's Flight Training Handbook, the onset of ice may be subtle or sudden, particularly if ice forms on the carburetor jets, because it "tends to choke off the flow of air and reduce the power output, or even prevent the engine from operating." The engine was functionally tested to 2,100 rpm, and no discrepancies were noted. Additional power output was not possible due to the intake manifold being crushed during the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to carburetor icing. Contributing factors were weather conditions conducive to carburetor icing and unsuitable terrain available on which to make a forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/18/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1230 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Wamsutter |
| Event State | WYOMING |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 82336 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 414820N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1071159W |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RWL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6813 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| 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) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.35 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 6702 |
| 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) | 14892 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA COMM CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 18 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1230 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 2 2004 8:07AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N794CH |
| NTSB Number | DEN03LA153 |
| 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 | Sharp |
| Aircraft Model | Corben Baby Ace D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 29 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1100 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 7 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 11 |
| Airframe Hours | 83 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Bradford L. Sharp |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Lake Almanor |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 96137 |
| 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) | Ferry |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | RKS |
| Departure City | Rock Springs |
| Departure State | WY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1140 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | RWL |
| Destination City | Rawlins |
| Destination State | WY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 22 2003 1:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |