Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Walhalla, South Carolina 29691
Sunday, April 2, 2006 9:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the builder/owner of the airplane, the airplane was certified as a Light Sport Airplane (LSA) on March 28, 2006, and was being prepared for an air show in Florida. During the preparation of the airplane, the builder/owner stated that they noticed that a vacuum hose was loose. They repaired the hose and the pilot flew the airplane around for an hour, and everything checked out "ok". The builder/owner stated that on the morning of the accident the pilot flew the airplane around again to check to make sure they had good "temperatures". The pilot took off again and after climbing to approximately 100 feet AGL the engine began to sputter in and out. He landed the airplane and shut the engine down. The builder/owner stated that when the pilot started up the airplane again he conducted 2 run-ups before take off. Both run-ups sounded good. The pilot took off again and the engine again began to sputter during the climb out. A witness who was located across the lake from the airstrip heard the engine sputtering as he observed the airplane above the tree line adjacent to the lake. The airplane made a hard left turn but was "still on a level plain". The airplane went below the tree line and disappeared from view. The witness heard "the engine race one last time before the sound of impact." Examination of the fuel pumps revealed that both pumps had a fine mesh screens on the inlet side of the pumps. The screens were found to have excessive debris build up. Examination of the debris revealed it appeared to be fiberglass fibers, and the fibers were consistent with the fuel tank construction materials.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot and owner/builders failure to determine the reason for partial loss of engine power resulting in loss of engine power due to fuel system contamination on a subsequent flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/2/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 945 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Walhalla |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29691 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 344330N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0830506W |
| 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 | 954 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CEU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 892 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.07 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21687 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communication Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 2 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 27 2007 1:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Columbia FSDO-13 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9085N |
| NTSB Number | ATL06LA060 |
| 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 | Just Aircraft LLC |
| Aircraft Model | Highlander |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | JAESC0019 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| 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 | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Just Aircraft LLC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 322 Cheyenne Dr. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Highlands |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 28741 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Gary W Schmitt |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | Walhalla |
| Departure State | SC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 945 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Walhalla |
| Destination State | SC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 28 2007 2:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\HAMG |
| 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 | -- |