Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Starke County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Knox, Indiana 46534
Sunday, September 19, 2004 20:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane sustained substantial damage on impact with a ditch during a forced landing following an in-flight loss of engine power on an approach. The pilot stated, "I was flying home from a diner in Michigan City. Just as I was approaching [Starke County Airport] it felt like I hit a curb in a car. The plane shifted to the right. The engine [was] quiet. All the engine lights came on, I tried to add power but it was dead. I lowered the gear and focused on flying the plane without power. I did not use flaps thinking I could glide farther. I set her down on her wheels and rolled into the ditch at the end of the field." The sheriff's report stated that two witnesses "saw the plane coming in slow and did not hear the motor running and saw the plane set down in a field and then go into the ditch." Dark night visual meteorological conditions prevailed and local wind was 090 degrees at 03 knots. The pilot reported that there was 35 gallons of fuel left in the airplane. On-scene examination of the wreckage revealed no pre-impact anomalies. The engine was test run and it produced rated power.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power for undetermined reasons. Contributing to the accident were the unsuitable terrain encountered, the dark night conditions, and the ditch.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/19/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2000 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Knox |
| Event State | INDIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 46534 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 411949N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0863953W |
| Event Location Airport | STARKE COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | OXI |
| 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 | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 684 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1953 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 300 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VPZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 771 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 17 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.32 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | Porter County Municipal Airport Valparaiso, India |
| 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) | 18089 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 19 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2134 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 13 2005 12:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | South Bend, IN, FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2453T |
| NTSB Number | CHI04LA262 |
| 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 | Navion G |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | NAV-4-2453 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3150 |
| 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 | Jan 6 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 14.6 |
| Airframe Hours | 4099.1 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Michael Anthony Kielas |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3003 South 900 West |
| Aircraft Owner City | San Pierre |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 46374 |
| 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 | MGC |
| Departure City | MICHIGAN CITY |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | OXI |
| Destination City | Knox |
| Destination State | IN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 18 2005 9:28AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| 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 | -- |