Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Stead Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Reno, Nevada 89506
Tuesady, September 11, 2007 17:40 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to witnesses, just after takeoff on Runway 08 as the airplane reached an altitude of about 80 feet above the runway, smoke started coming from the lower part of the engine cowling, and the airplane's propeller stopped turning. As the airplane started to descend, the pilot appeared to attempt to turn left in order to land on a crossing runway (Runway 32), but during the turn the airplane appeared to stall and descend into the terrain. The airplane was recovered, and the engine, which had been highly modified for racing, was torn down and inspected. No pre-impact anomalies or malfunctions were discovered during the teardown, except that the exhaust system heat wrap covering near the crankcase breather was covered by a film of oil residue. The conclusion of the owner was that the increase in power and the pitch of the newly installed propeller allowed the engine to overspeed, resulting in the pressurization of the crankcase, and the ejection of an oil mist onto the exhaust system heat wrap. The owner believes that this resulted in the creation of smoke that got into the cockpit, which likely lead the pilot to believe that he may have had an in-flight fire. The pilot, thinking he may have had an in-flight fire, shut the engine down, and attempted a landing on the crossing runway. This was the first flight of the airplane since the engine had been modified to produce more power, and since the airframe had been modified in an attempt to achieve a higher race airspeed. According to the owner, the engine was operating at a compression ratio of 13.5 to 1, and with the newly installed propeller, the engine had reached an on-ground static speed of 3,800 rpm.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The overspeed of the modified racing engine during takeoff that created an oil mist on the exhaust and smoke, and the pilot's failure to maintain a speed above stall speed (Vs) during his attempted emergency landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's diverted attention due to the smoke and the reasonable belief that an in-flight engine compartment fire was occurring.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/11/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1740 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Reno |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89506 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 394006N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1195235W |
| Event Location Airport | Stead Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 4SD |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 5040 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23951 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 11 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 30 2008 9:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Reno FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N13NG |
| NTSB Number | SEA07LA259 |
| 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 | Rose |
| Aircraft Model | Peregrine |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 101 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1144 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 37 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | David L. Rose |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | La Jolla |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92037 |
| 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) | Air Race/Show |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 4SD |
| Departure City | Reno |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1740 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 4SD |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 14 2008 10:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 08 |
| Runway Length | 7500 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |