Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Odessa, Texas 79763
Thursday, August 21, 2008 8:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot departed on a 42-nautical-mile cross-country flight in his homebuilt single-place experimental aircraft and was in cruise flight when he encountered turbulence and the engine quit. The pilot reported that he encountered rough air at his cruise altitude of 4000 feet and decided to descend to 3800 feet for smoother air. As he began the descent the engine began to run rough and then quit. During the forced landing the airplane struck a fence and trees. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings, landing gear, and empannage. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector, during an on scene investigation, found that the carburetor had separated from the intake manifold at the flexible rubber couplings.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Failure of the intake manifold when the flexible connectors disconnected from the carburetor after a turbulence encounter. Contributing to the accident was insuitable terrain for a forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/21/2008
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 800
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Odessa
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 79763
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 314907N
Event Location Longitude 1022819W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
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 --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 753 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 60
Weather Observation Facility ID KODO
Elevation of weather observation facility 3004
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
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) 20
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 130
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
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 None
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 --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency --
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 24489
NTSB Notification Source Regional Operations Center, FT
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 3 2008 11:15AM
User who most recently changed record gamw
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1002W
NTSB Number DFW08CA211
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 MURRAY FRANK H
Aircraft Model DA5B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 06
Certified Max Gross Weight 867
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 30 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 6
Airframe Hours 53
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name MURRAY FRANK H
Aircraft Owner Street Address 12846 W WHIRLAWAY DR
Aircraft Owner City ODESSA
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 79763-8113
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name MURRAY FRANK H
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address 12846 W WHIRLAWAY DR
Operator City ODESSA
Operator State TX
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 79763-8113
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 No
Departure Airport Code KODO
Departure City Odessa
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 745
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code E01
Destination City Monahans
Destination State TX
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 3 2008 12:32PM
User who most recently changed record gamw
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 --