Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Watrous, New Mexico 87750
Monday, August 27, 2007 16:10 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Witnesses reported seeing the airplane "flying at an odd angle" and trailing smoke. The accident site was described as an open field and suitable for a forced landing. The landing gear was down, and there were three propeller strike marks in the earth at the point of touchdown. It was determined that the airplane had at least an 11 to 12 degree nose-up angle at the point of touchdown. The wreckage path, from initial impact point to the final resting point, was strewn with airplane parts that had been exposed to fire. Several airplane pieces, mostly from the engine area, were scattered near and prior to the initial impact point. They had also been exposed to fire. The right intake scoop, that covers the right side of the engine and the right turbocharger, was heat blistered. Disassembly and examination of the engine revealed no anomalies that would have prevented normal operation and production of rated power. Metallurgical examination of the turbochargers showed "no evidence of cracks, punctures, or holes that would allow any exhaust gas to escape, and the mechanical damage was determined to be impact related." The right turbocharger, however, exhibited "a black flame impingement pattern on the outboard side of the wastegate actuator. The rear face of the actuator mounting bracket displayed a similar impingement pattern and the forward face of the bracket displayed a deposit consistent with flame contact. The impingement pattern was consistent with a flame directed forward. To the rear of the actuator are two oil lines, one is an oil pressure line from the engine and the other is connected to the density controller (the density controller is operated by the discharge air pressure from the turbocharger and adjusts the bleed rate of the oil pressure thereby controlling the wastegate actuator). A portion of the upper oil line was still attached to the actuator and an examination revealed that only the wire braiding remained. The wire braiding was discolored, consistent with it being overheated." The airplane's co-builder supplied photographs that showed "there was no other flame source to the rear of the oil line and the actuator. It is therefore probable that a leak in the oil line sprayed oil forward onto the wastegate actuator and the oil spray was ignited by the hot turbine section of the turbocharger to which the actuator is connected, and initiated the in-flight fire." The pilot's autopsy revealed no soot in the air passageways. Carbon monoxide and cyanide tests could not be performed.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane during a forced landing that resulted in a hard landing. Contributing to the accident was the ruptured pressurized oil line.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/27/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1610 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Watrous |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87750 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 354323N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1045942W |
| 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 | 1553 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LVS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6877 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 14 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 11000 |
| 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) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 19 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.15 |
| 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) | 23354 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-Southwest Region |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 27 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 30 2008 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Albuquerque, New Mexico |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N60GE |
| NTSB Number | DEN07LA148 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Elliott Cirrus |
| Aircraft Model | VK30 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 121 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Glenn R. Elliott |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 817 Loma Vista Dr., N.E. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Albuquerque |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 87106 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | LBL |
| Departure City | Liberal |
| Departure State | KS |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1544 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | AEG |
| Destination City | Albuquerque |
| Destination State | NM |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 26 2008 2:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |