Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Waukesha, Wisconsin 53188
Saturday, April 21, 2007 12:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane nosed-down in a cornfield during a forced landing following a loss of engine power shortly after takeoff. The local flight originally departed at 1215 and proceeded about 12 miles southwest of the departure airport before the airplane experienced a loss of engine power. The pilot landed in a cornfield without incident. The pilot stated that he restarted the engine and elected to take-off after finding "nothing apparently wrong" with the magnetos and fuel gauges. After takeoff, at an altitude of 150 feet, the airplane experienced a loss of engine power for a second time. The pilot reported that he performed a forced landing to another cornfield, but the cornfield rows were perpendicular to the landing path and the airplane nosed-down after touchdown. The airplane reportedly had 30 gallons of fuel on board at the original time of departure. Investigation of the airplane and accident site did not reveal evidence indicative of a fuel spill. The ground was not wet or muddy and there was no discernable fuel smell present at the accident site. Neither of the fuel tanks were breached and there was no evidence of a fuel leak. The fuel sight gauges were examined and no fuel was noticed upon righting the airplane. Several of the fuel lines had been crimped during the accident sequence, but there was no indication of a fuel leak from any of the crimped lines. The fuel tanks were drained and twenty-four ounces of fuel was collected. The pilot's shoe was reportedly recovered from the wreckage and was found filled with fuel.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's decision to attempt flight following the initial loss of engine power and successful forced landing to a cornfield. An additional cause was the loss of engine power for undetermined reasons. A contributing factor was the furrowed cornfield encountered during the second forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/21/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1230 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Waukesha |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 53188 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 430227N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0881413W |
| 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 | 1245 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | UES |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 911 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.17 |
| 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) | 21699 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 21 2007 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 | Federal Aviation Administration, Milwaukee FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N231E |
| NTSB Number | CHI07CA112 |
| 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 | PZL Warzawa-CNPSL |
| Aircraft Model | PZL-104 Wilga 35A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 12.82.0688 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2866 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2981.7 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | David L. Ritchey |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | W 248 S6168 Deerfield Circle |
| Aircraft Owner City | Waukesha |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 53189 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | UES |
| Departure City | Waukesha |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1215 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | UES |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 6 2007 9:29AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |