Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Livermore Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Livermore, California 94550
Saturday, June 16, 2007 8:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Witnesses observed the airplane reach about 300 to 400 feet above ground level (agl) in the initial climb as it approached the departure end of the runway. The airplane then descended about 100 feet as one witness heard the engine begin to sputter, and then lost power. The airplane made a hard left turn and continued to descend while reversing course, consistent with the pilot attempting to return to the runway. As the airplane came close to completing a 180-degree turn, the airplane stalled and dove toward terrain. The airplane impacted in a near-vertical attitude and erupted into flames. The pilot, who was the airplane's builder, had amassed about 300 hours in the accident airplane. The terrain at the end of the departure runway was characteristically flat, stretching over 6,500 feet beyond the runway, and consisted of a golf course and open fields. Investigators found no evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures during the examination; however, the extremely impact damaged and thermally consumed wreckage precluded many components and systems from being inspected. An article in the EAA Sport Aviation newsletter detailed the flight characteristics of an Europa that was configured similar to the accident airplane. In pertinent part, it stated that stalls, both with level flight and idle power, are abrupt with a 5- to 10-degree nose drop accompanied by a 5-degree right wing drop. The article reported that there is virtually no traditional stall warning, such as airframe buffeting.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the loss of engine power for an undetermined reason during the initial climb, and the pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed while attempting a return to runway maneuver, which resulted in a stall/spin.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/16/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 830 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Livermore |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94550 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 374136N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1214913W |
| Event Location Airport | Livermore Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LVK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 400 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 845 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LVK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 400 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1400 |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 22870 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 16 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 30 2008 4:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-OAK-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N214KS |
| NTSB Number | LAX07LA148 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Hill |
| Aircraft Model | Europa XS |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | A214 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1470 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 215 |
| Airframe Hours | 300 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Lighthouse Christian Supply, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7188 Amador Plaza Rd |
| Aircraft Owner City | Dublin |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94568 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Kenneth Hill |
| 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 | LVK |
| Departure City | Livermore |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 830 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Yosemite |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 19 2007 6:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 25R |
| Runway Length | 5253 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |