Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Flying-A-Ranch Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fruitport, Michigan 49448
Tuesady, May 1, 2007 17:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During the climb out the engine lost power. The CFI lowered the nose to establish a glide speed of about 65-70 mph and executed a
forced landing to a field. He applied carburetor heat, switched magnetos, and pumped the throttle but with no effect. The CFI saw power
line wires and tried to avoid them by going under the wires, but the airplane's right wing hit a power line pole. The airplane rotated
to the right and landed in the ditch next to a road. The engine was put on an engine test stand and the engine run revealed that it met
operational specifications. The temperature was 16 degrees Celsius and the dew point was 12 degrees Celsius. The mechanic who conducted the airplane's annual inspection five months earlier and who received dual instruction in the airplane before the accident flight stated that he encountered carburetor icing while taxiing and while in cruise flight. A review of two Luscombe owners' handbooks from the late 1940s and early 1950s found guidance recommending full carburetor heat for takeoffs and landings. A placard located next to the carburetor heat lever on the instrument panel stated the following: "Full Carburetor Air Heat Required for Takeoff and Landing." Although originally intended to correct fuel flow problems in early model 8As (during takeoffs with high pitch attitudes), the placard comports with Luscombe 8A owners and pilot operating manual guidance on carburetor icing avoidance. The certificated flight instructor reported that he had not applied carburetor heat until the engine lost power after takeoff.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The flight instructor failed to use carburetor heat during takeoff in icing conditions. A factor was the power line pole.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/1/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1715 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Fruitport |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49448 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 430618N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0860725W |
| Event Location Airport | Flying-a-Ranch |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 39Z |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 630 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1755 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 315 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MKG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 628 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| 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) | 29.81 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23054 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 1 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 15 2011 2:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Grand Rapids FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1120B |
| NTSB Number | CHI07LA126 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Luscombe |
| Aircraft Model | 8A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5747 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1260 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0.8 |
| Airframe Hours | 1671 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Daniel E. Sherburn |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 15157 Wildfield Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Spring Lake |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 49456 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 39Z |
| Departure City | Fruitport |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1715 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| 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 | Feb 7 2008 8:57AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 9 |
| Runway Length | 1925 |
| Runway Width | 70 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |