Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Charlotte County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Punta Gorda, Florida 33982
Saturday, December 10, 2005 10:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot/builder of the accident airplane stated that the takeoff and initial climb were normal until the airplane reached about 200-300 feet, when the engine began "losing compression." He further stated that the airspeed began to bleed off, so he lowered the nose to maintain 80 knots and turned the airplane back toward the runway. He said that he was unable to reach the runway, so he decided to land in the grass on the airport property. According to the pilot the landing flare and touchdown were normal, but during the rollout the airplane struck a taxiway sign, became airborne, impacted the ground again on the main landing gear, and then came to a sudden stop in a ditch. It then caught fire and was mostly consumed in the flames. According to the pilot/builder, the airplane had a General Motors automobile conversion V-6 engine, and the accident flight was the first flight after the airplane had been built. Prior to the flight only ground taxi operations had been performed. During takeoff on the first and accident flight, the pilot said he noticed the engine temperature gauge needle showing that the engine was operating at a very high temperature. The pilot/builder said that postcrash examination of the engine could not be accomplished because it had been constructed largely of aluminum and the intense heat of the postcrash fire mostly consumed the engine and melted the aluminum.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/10/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1000 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Punta Gorda |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33982 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 265513N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0815926W |
| Event Location Airport | Charlotte County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PGD |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| 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 | 1005 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PGD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| 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) | 3 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19582 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 10 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 | Tampa, Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N535BM |
| NTSB Number | MIA06LA028 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MESTAS FELIX R |
| Aircraft Model | Velocity LWFG-E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | DMO387 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2780 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 7 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Felix R. Mestas |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1229 SW 54th Lane |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cape Coral |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33914 |
| 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 | Cape Coral |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33914 |
| 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 | PGD |
| Departure City | Punta Gorda |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PGD |
| Destination City | Punta Gorda |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 31 2006 12:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 03 |
| Runway Length | 6500 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |