Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Merritt Island Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Merritt Island, Florida 32780
Thursday, December 21, 2006 11:18 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he completed about 7 practice crosswind landings during which the airplane performed well with no problems. During his last takeoff at 93 percent power, while at an altitude of about 500 to 700 feet AGL, the turbine started to spool down to about 61 percent (flight idle). He said he initiated emergency procedures to include pushing the left throttle full forward, with no increase in power being realized. He said he then brought the left throttle to flight idle, feathered the propeller, flipped and activated the isolate switch to the on position to bypass the normal fuel delivery system, and then advanced the right throttle full forward. He said the lock clip detent was secure, but this produced no increase in power or thrust, Thrust remained at about 61 percent, with no change being noted in fuel power through either the normal and emergency isolate positions in fuel flow to the turbine. He said he felt he was dropping faster with the propeller feathered, so he attempted to see if he could get some thrust with the propeller control to full forward which seemed to help a little. He said he was able to glide clear of all houses and structures, and was able to ditch the airplane in the water. After recovery from the water, postcrash examinations of the airframe, engine, and accessories were performed by the manufacturer, and the examinations revealed the presence of "slime" in the common airframe fuel filter which received fuel from the normal fuel supply line, as well as the separate emergency fuel supply line that bypassed the fuel control unit, to directly feed the turbine. The engine was also given a separate detailed examination. No other anomalies were noted.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The airplane manufacturer's inadequate maintenance prior to final aircraft delivery, which resulted in fuel filter blockage and engine fuel starvation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/21/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1118 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Merritt Island |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32780 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 282029N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0804107W |
| Event Location Airport | Merritt Island |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | COI |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 7 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1045 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | COI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 7 |
| 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 | 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) | 140 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| 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) | 22529 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ATL Comm. Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 21 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 29 2007 8:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Orlando, Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N286JL |
| NTSB Number | MIA07LA032 |
| 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 | Clopton Aero LLC |
| Aircraft Model | Aerocomp Compair 7SL |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | -- |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 55 |
| Airframe Hours | 55 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Clopton Aero LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 674 Country Way |
| Aircraft Owner City | Kalispell |
| Aircraft Owner State | MT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 59901 |
| 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 | COI |
| Departure City | Merritt Island |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1117 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | COI |
| 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 | Oct 24 2007 3:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 11 |
| Runway Length | 3601 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |