Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Middlebury State Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Middlebury, Vermont 05753
Tuesady, July 12, 2005 8:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
About five months prior to the accident, the pilot installed a new engine in the homebuilt airplane. The engine was a 138-horsepower conversion of a Subaru automobile engine, and had accumulated about 13 hours of operation until the time of the accident. On the day of the accident, no anomalies were noted during the preflight inspection, start-up, or taxi. The engine normally operated about 5,700 rpm, with the propeller turning about 2,500 rpm. During the takeoff roll, the propeller rpm was at 2,000, and the pilot adjusted propeller pitch to increase the rpm to 2,500. Shortly after takeoff, the airplane experienced a partial loss of engine power, and the rpm dropped to approximately 1,500. There was not enough power remaining to return to the airport, so the pilot performed a forced landing, straight ahead, into trees. Examination of the engine, fuel system, ignition system, and propeller system did not reveal any pre-impact mechanical malfunctions.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A partial loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/12/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 815 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Middlebury |
| Event State | VERMONT |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 05753 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 435905N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0730546W |
| Event Location Airport | Middlebury State Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 6B0 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 490 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 751 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 60 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MPV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1165 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.13 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19593 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-NEROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 12 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 25 2006 11:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Portland, ME |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N412JP |
| NTSB Number | NYC05LA119 |
| 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 | Pratt |
| Aircraft Model | Ultravia Pelican-PL |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | PL-625 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1400 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 13 |
| Airframe Hours | 150 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John A. Pratt |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | New Haven |
| Aircraft Owner State | VT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 05472 |
| 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 | 6B0 |
| Departure City | Middlebury |
| Departure State | VT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 815 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 6B0 |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 4 2006 2:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 1 |
| Runway Length | 2500 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |