Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
North Little Rock, Ar Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
N. Little Rock, Arkansas 72120
Friday, May 23, 2008 16:45 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Prior to the flight, the airplane's fuel tanks were topped off with fuel, and the airplane pre-flight was normal. During initial takeoff climb approximately 200 feet above ground level (agl), the pilot retracted the landing gear and the engine lost power. Prior to the loss of engine power, the pilot did not hear a bang, sputter, or any indication of an engine problem. The pilot attempted to restart the engine; however, the restart was unsuccessful. The pilot initiated a forced landing and tried to land on the remaining runway surface. The airplane touched down off the runway surface, impacted terrain, and came to rest upright. Examination of the airframe and engine showed that the mixture and throttle cables were routed incorrectly, and the two cables were longer than the original cables. The original drawings showed that the cables exited the firewall and were routed up to the center cylinders and looped back to the fuel control unit. The accident airplane cables exited the firewall and were routed up to the forward cylinders (in proximity of the nose landing gear retraction assembly), and then looped back 180 degrees to the fuel control unit. The fuel control unit was mounted under and aft of the engine. The inspector noted contact with the mixture cable and the nose landing gear retraction assembly. During the landing gear retraction, the mixture cable was snagged by the gear retraction mechanism and disrupted the fuel system which resulted in the loss of engine power.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to the incorrect and improper installation of throttle and mixture cables by unknown maintenance personnel.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/23/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1645 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | N. Little Rock |
| Event State | ARKANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 72120 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 344959N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0921514W |
| Event Location Airport | North Little Rock, AR |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KORK |
| 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 | 550 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LIT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.86 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24443 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 23 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 22 2008 5:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Little Rock, Arkansas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7640E |
| NTSB Number | DEN08LA095 |
| 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 | Downer |
| Aircraft Model | Bellanca 14-19-3 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4143 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2700 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 40 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Pfeifer Sutter Family LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Roland |
| Aircraft Owner State | AR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 72135 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Luther O. Sutter |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 13208 Natural Steps Dr. |
| Operator City | Roland |
| Operator State | AR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 72135 |
| 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 | ORK |
| Departure City | N. Little Rock |
| Departure State | AR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1640 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | JKA |
| Destination City | Gulf Shores |
| Destination State | AL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 05 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |