Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ennis - Big Sky Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ennis, Montana 59729
Monday, June 5, 2006 19:00 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that shortly after takeoff the airplane lost engine power and he elected to land in an open field south of the airport. Post accident evaluation and testing of the mixture control linkage revealed that the metering shaft rotated to the mechanical stop when actuated to the "idle cut-off" position; however, when the mixture control was actuated to the "full-rich" position, the metering shaft rotated approximately 40 percent of potential (full) travel and did not reach the mechanical stop. Further examination revealed the mixture control arm retaining nut was tight, however extensive wear to the serrated mating surfaces of the mixture control arm and metering shaft was observed. The serrated edges had worn smooth and fretting type damage was noted to both surfaces. Maintenance records showed that the airplane's original engine, a Continental IO-520, was removed and the airframe was retrofitted with a factory rebuilt (zero time) IO-550-B in accordance with a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC). The certified airframe and power plant (A&P) mechanic, who performed the maintenance on the airplane, stated the mixture control arm (which was shipped with the engine) was installed in conjunction with the engine conversion.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power during takeoff due to an excessively lean fuel-to-air mixture ratio as a result of excessive mating surface wear between the mixture control arm and metering shaft. A factor was the improper installation of the new engine, which resulted in excessive wear and metering of fuel and loss of engine power. An additional factor was the rough, uneven terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/5/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1900 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Ennis |
| Event State | MONTANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 59729 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 451618N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1113855W |
| Event Location Airport | ENNIS - BIG SKY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KEKS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 5300 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21138 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 5 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 26 2007 9:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Helena, Montana FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N24BF |
| NTSB Number | SEA06LA114 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | A36 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | E1736 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 35 |
| Airframe Hours | 3465 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | David A. Nicely |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Mission Hills |
| Aircraft Owner State | KS |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 66208 |
| 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 | KEKS |
| Departure City | Ennis |
| Departure State | MT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1700 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 6S5 |
| Destination City | HAMILTON |
| Destination State | MT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - emergency |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 31 2007 5:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 16 |
| Runway Length | 4694 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |