Lexington County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Pelion, South Carolina 29123
Sunday, May 4, 2008 14:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The flight was a short instructional flight in an experimental amateur-homebuilt airplane with a flight instructor with no flight time in the airplane, flying from the right seat. The flight was making a turn to base when the right seat instructor pilot reduced the power and the engine lost power. A forced landing was executed and the aircraft was substantially damaged upon impact with the ground. Inspection revealed no pre-accident anomalies with the engine. The right seat instructor pilot's recommendations were not to reduce power on a two stroke engine. The right seat instructor pilot also believed the left seat student pilot, with all the time in the aircraft, should have told him not to reduce power on the two stroke engine.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A loss of engine power due to the improper actions of the instructor pilot and the low experience level of the instructor pilot in this make and model of aircraft.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/4/2008
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City PELION
Event State SOUTH CAROLINA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 29123
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Lexington County Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 6J0
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.4
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 452
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1356 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 315
Weather Observation Facility ID KCAE
Elevation of weather observation facility 236
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 11
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 6000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 9
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 260
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) 29.97
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 1
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 27151
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date May 4 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 23 2010 7:08PM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WEST COLUMBIA, SC

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9148Y
NTSB Number CHI08LA125
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 --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Rans
Aircraft Model S-12 XL
Aircraft Series Identifier Airaile
Aircraft Serial Number 06950619
Certified Max Gross Weight 920
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
Flight Crew Seats 2
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection May 4 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 262
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Richard E. Adams
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Pratt
Aircraft Owner State KS
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name Edwin Seibert
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Sandy Run
Operator State SC
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code --
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code 8J0
Departure City Pelion
Departure State SC
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1350
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 6J0
Destination City PELION
Destination State SC
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff - initial climb
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 30 2009 5:36PM
User who most recently changed record dinc
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 35
Runway Length 4335
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --