Palm Beach County Park Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lake Worth, Florida 33461
Wednesday, May 12, 2004 13:10 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot stated that while flying the downwind leg at Palm Beach County Park Airport, he conducted a pre-landing checklist, which included extending the landing gear and lowering the flaps. After leveling the wings following the turn from downwind leg to the base leg, he attempted to increase power but the engine was unresponsive. He said that upon realizing the engine was not producing power, he also noticed the fuel flow was low. At this point, he cycled the magneto switch, switched fuel tanks, turned on the fuel boost pump to "low" but there was no change in the fuel flow. He then turned toward the airport, realized he was not going to make the runway, and elected to land on a golf course driving range north of the airport. The pilot further stated the landing went well but during the landing rollout, the aircraft hit a berm and nosed over coming to rest inverted. During recovery of the airplane, the main fuel tanks were found to contain about 15 gallons of fuel in each. The auxiliary tanks contained about 5 gallons of fuel in each and the right tip tank contained 1 gallon of fuel. The left tip tank had been damaged by impact forces and contained no fuel. The fuel selector, magneto switch, and electrical master switch were found in the off position. Fire department personnel reported they turned off the fuel selector, magneto, and electrical master switches after the accident. No contamination was found in the airframe and engine fuel systems. All fuel lines were unobstructed. After recovery of the airplane, which required removal of the airplanes wings, a fuel supply was connected to the airplane and engine fuel system. The engine was then started and operated to full power with no evidence of failure or malfunction. During the engine test run the electric fuel boost pump was moved from the off position to the low position. The engine began to fail. The boost pump was turned off and the engine regained power. The electric fuel boost pump was tested and found to produce pressures within the normal range in the low and high positions. The flight manual for the Beech K35 states that the electric boost pump is used for starting and emergency operation after failure of the engine driven fuel pump.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The loss of engine power for undetermined reasons which resulted in a forced landing, collision with a berm during landing rollout, and the airplane nosing over.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/12/2004
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1310
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Lake Worth
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 33461
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 263600N
Event Location Longitude 0800513W
Event Location Airport Palm Beach County Park
Event Location Nearest Airport ID LNA
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.5
Degrees magnetic from airport 350
Airport Elevation 14
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1253 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 360
Weather Observation Facility ID PBI
Elevation of weather observation facility 19
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 5
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2700
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) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 19
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 120
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 16
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.19
Density Altitude (feet) 1588
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 17190
NTSB Notification Source FAA ROC ATLANTA
NTSB Notification Date May 12 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1335
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jan 27 2005 3:52PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA Fort Lauderdale FDSO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N551PK
NTSB Number MIA04LA082
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 Beech
Aircraft Model K35
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number D-5797
Certified Max Gross Weight 2950
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 Mar 5 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 7
Airframe Hours 5811
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Paul Shalin Kramer
Aircraft Owner Street Address 4800 Queen Palm Lane
Aircraft Owner City Tamarac
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 33319
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 FXE
Departure City Fort Lauderdale
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1250
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code LNA
Destination City Lake Worth
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record --
User who most recently changed record --
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 --