Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Grafton, Illinois 62037
Friday, September 9, 2005 13:50 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane nosed over during a forced landing following a loss of engine power. The pilot reported the engine "started missing" and eventually "went dead" during cruise flight. The pilot stated that he switched fuel tanks, checked the magnetos, and applied carburetor heat to no avail. The pilot stated that he performed a forced landing into a soybean field and nosed over during the landing rollout. The engine was test run during a post-accident examination. The engine started and ran at idle for a period of five minutes with no anomalies. The engine subsequently ran at 2,100 rpm with no anomalies. The gascolator and carburetor inlet screen were contaminated with fragments of a red fabric-like substance. The red fragments were similar to a shop-cloth or scotch-brite abrasion pad.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The loss of engine power due to contamination of the fuel system, gascolator and carburetor inlet screen. A factor to the accident was the soybean crop.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/9/2005
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1350
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Grafton
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 62037
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 390008N
Event Location Longitude 0902556W
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 --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1354 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 135
Weather Observation Facility ID SET
Elevation of weather observation facility 436
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 3
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
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) 6
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 33
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 350
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.04
Density Altitude (feet) --
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) 18768
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Sep 9 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 20 2005 6:27AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Federal Aviation Administration - Springfield FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9120Q
NTSB Number CHI05CA259
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 Dixon
Aircraft Model RV-4
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 2278
Certified Max Gross Weight 1500
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Sep 1 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 86.61
Airframe Hours 369.11
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name John Daniel Richey
Aircraft Owner Street Address 280 18th Street, North
Aircraft Owner City Batesville
Aircraft Owner State AR
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 72501
Operator is an individual? Yes
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 BVX
Departure City Batesville
Departure State AR
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1200
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code SQI
Destination City Rock Falls
Destination State IL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Emergency descent/landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 5 2005 5:56PM
User who most recently changed record DINC
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 --