Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Buffalo Creek Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Concord, North Carolina 28027
Tuesady, May 6, 2008 11:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was originally built and marketed as a kit built, two seat ultralight aircraft with a tubular frame and fabric-covered wings, but it was registered to the builder in 1995 as an airplane, and an "N" number was issued. The FAA's airplane registry still has the builder listed as owner, with a sale reported to another party, but not to the pilot. The pilot told an FAA inspector that he bought the airplane as a "no regulation" aircraft on E Bay. He assembled the airplane, installed a single seat, and rebuilt the Rotax engine about 30 hours before the accident. The airplane did not have a current registration, nor an airworthiness certificate. As part of the pilot's preflight before the accident flight, he drained and refilled the fuel tank. He then ran the engine, on the ground, for about 30 minutes. He then departed for one turn around the airport traffic pattern, and landed. He rechecked the engine and decided to depart for his intended destination. The pilot said that he just turned out from the local traffic pattern about 700 feet above the ground when the engine lost power. He tried to turn back toward the airport, but the airplane's glide capabilities were poor. He attempted to land on a nearby road, but the airplane descended in a steep, nose-down attitude, and collided with the ground in the front yard of a residence. FAA personnel, nor the pilot determined why the engine lost power.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power for an undetermined reason, which resulted in a forced landing and collision with terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/6/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1130 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Concord |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 28027 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 352520N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0803714W |
| Event Location Airport | Buffalo Creek Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 4NC8 |
| 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 | 600 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1157 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KJQF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 600 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24650 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 6 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 14 2008 10:50AM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA Charlotte FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N40737 |
| NTSB Number | ANC08LA063 |
| 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 | Shaffstall |
| Aircraft Model | Kolb Firestar II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 005JS |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 715 |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | 195 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | James Shaffstall |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Madison |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 47250 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Stephen M. Hendry |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Charlotte |
| Operator State | NC |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 28269 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | 4NC8 |
| Departure City | Concord |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1130 |
| 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 | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 23 2008 6:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | eris |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |