Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Butler Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rockville, Indiana 47872
Friday, July 30, 2004 18:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with trees during a forced landing while in the traffic pattern at a private airstrip. The pilot stated he departed the airstrip and attempted to contact approach control (21 statue miles away) to activate his instrument flight rules flight plan. He stated he was having radio problems in that he could hear approach control, but they were unable to hear him. The pilot reported he was in instrument meteorological conditions so he decided to return to the airstrip. The pilot stated he was in the traffic pattern to land when the engine lost power. He stated he thought he had picked up carburetor ice, so he applied carburetor heat, but was unable to regain any engine power. The airplane contacted trees and settled into a heavily wooded area near the airport. The pilot spent the night in the airplane and found his way out of the woods the following morning. The closest weather reporting station, located 21 miles from the accident site, reported the weather 7 mintes prior to the accident, as 1-1/4 mile visibility with light rain and mist, scattered clouds at 400 feet and a broken cloud ceiling at 700 feet. A post accident inspection of the airplane revealed that the venturi on the air inlet side of the carburetor was blocked by a 5-1/2 inch long piece of heat shield material. This material covered about 70 percent of the inlet area. The source of this material could not be determined as this material was not used anywhere on the airplane. The last annual inspection of the airframe and engine was performed approximately 60 flight hours prior to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The restriction of airflow in the carburetor due to a foreign substance blockage of the venturi. A contributing factor was the trees.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/30/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1800 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rockville |
| Event State | INDIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 47872 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 394245N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0872405W |
| Event Location Airport | Butler Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | IN46 |
| 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 | 90 |
| Airport Elevation | 720 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1753 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 195 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HUF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 744 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 700 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 400 |
| 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) | 1.25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.85 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1683 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| 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) | 17407 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Pilot |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 1 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1630 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2005 6:20AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Indianapolis, IN FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5769P |
| NTSB Number | CHI04LA202 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-24 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-847 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| 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 | Feb 20 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 60 |
| Airframe Hours | 3608 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robert D. Hale |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Waveland |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 47989 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | IN46 |
| Departure City | Rockville |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1700 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | TYQ |
| Destination City | Zionsville |
| Destination State | IN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |