Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Kalispell City Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kalispell, Montana 59901
Tuesady, July 8, 2008 12:40 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The certified flight instructor (CFI) and student took off for an instructional flight during which a series of touch-and-go landings were performed. During initial climb out for the 13th takeoff, the engine sputtered, regained power, and then lost power on the crosswind leg. The CFI took the controls and attempted a forced landing. The airplane impacted the uneven ground, collided into a fence, and was destroyed by fire. During the subsequent examination of the airframe and engine, no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunction was found. The engine's carburetor assembly was examined by the Safety Board Materials Laboratory. Granular material was found on the walls of the carburetor's throat and in the interior of the inlet duct. The idle jet was substantially blocked and the main jet was partially obstructed. Similar fine granular material and clumps of mixed fine and coarser granular material were also found inside the carburetor jets. Because the granular sand-like material was found in both the fuel and air sides of the carburetor, it is evident that the foreign substance entered the carburetor during flight. The airplane had a history of infrequent usage. During the 10-month period from April 2007 to February 2008, the airplane had been operated for only 8.8 hours.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A partial loss of engine power during initial climb due to fuel system contamination by a foreign substance. Contributing to the accident was the uneven terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/8/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1240 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Kalispell |
| Event State | MONTANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 59901 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 481012N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1141806W |
| Event Location Airport | Kalispell City Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | S27 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 2932 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1255 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GPI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2977 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.11 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25290 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 8 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 27 2009 4:56PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Helena-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8647G |
| NTSB Number | LAX08LA212 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 150F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15062747 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 22 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4228.7 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jerry Whealon |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Polson |
| Aircraft Owner State | MT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 59860 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Jamie Whealon |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Polson |
| Operator State | MT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 59860 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | S27 |
| Departure City | Kalispell |
| Departure State | MT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1239 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | S27 |
| Destination City | Kalispell |
| Destination State | MT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing after takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 27 2009 4:57PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 13 |
| Runway Length | 3600 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |