Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
St. Petersburg-Clearwater Inte Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
St. Petersburg, Florida 33762
Thursday, June 12, 2008 8:05 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot/owner, who was also the builder of the airplane, was attempting to conduct its first flight. He taxied to the runway and encountered some engine roughness during the magneto check, but the roughness was successfully eliminated after he conducted a "lean burn-out" and a second magneto check. The pilot contacted the air traffic control tower for permission to remain in the traffic pattern and was cleared for takeoff. He taxied into position on the runway, applied full power, and was satisfied with what he "saw, heard, and felt." Since this was the initial flight of the airplane, the pilot planned to hold the airplane in ground effect after liftoff, in order to accelerate to an airspeed above the prescribed normal climbout speed. The airplane had climbed to approximately 20 feet above ground level when a partial power loss occurred. The pilot decided to abort the takeoff, but the airplane stalled and rolled "very hard" to the right. It descended, struck the runway inverted, and slid inverted to a stop. The pilot sustained minor injuries. Subsequent to the accident, the engine fuel distribution system failed a flow bench test. Examination of the system's components revealed that the fuel servo was contaminated with fragments of material similar to the fuel line material and that the screens on some of the fuel injector nozzles were partially occluded by paint. The servo contamination was a result of the pilot's self-developed shortcut for fabricating the fuel lines, and the paint was inadvertently deposited on the injector screens when the pilot painted the engine.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed following a partial loss of engine power, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall. Contributing to the accident was improper maintenance practices during the construction of the airplane, which resulted in contaminants being accidently introduced into the fuel system.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/12/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 805 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | St. Petersburg |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33762 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 275436N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0824114W |
| Event Location Airport | St. Petersburg-Clearwater Inte |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PIE |
| 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 | 11 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 813 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PIE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 11 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| 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) | 26 |
| 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) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| 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 | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25309 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 12 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 11 2009 2:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | muzd |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Tampa, FL |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N347MM |
| NTSB Number | NYC08LA213 |
| 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 | Marrin |
| Aircraft Model | Pitts S-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 002 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1160 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 7 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Michael Marrin |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 774 40th Ave. North |
| Aircraft Owner City | St. Petersburg |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33703 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Michael Marrin |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | St. Petersburg |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33701 |
| 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 | PIE |
| Departure City | St. Petersburg |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 805 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | PIE |
| Destination City | St. Petersburg |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 10 2009 9:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | muzd |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 09 |
| Runway Length | 4200 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |