Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Clermont, Florida 34711
Thursday, April 9, 2009 11:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he was in cruise flight at 1,800 feet when the motorized glider experienced a total loss of engine power. He attempted an engine restart with negative results and made a forced landing. The current owner stated that he purchased the motor glider about 4 months before the accident. The engine had been removed by the previous owner, rebuilt, serviced, installed on the glider, and placed in storage. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector disassembled the engine after the accident. Prior to disassembly, the oil tank indicated that it was full of oil. Disassembly of the engine revealed the rotary valve disc drive gear had failed due to insufficient lubrication. There were about 2 ounces of oil drained from the oil bath reservoir. The engine manufacturer's installation manual indicated that if the vent plug in the engine case is not removed when servicing the engine with oil. The oil reservoir can indicate it is full of oil, and an air bubble can form which will prevent oil from filling the chamber. This will result in significant heat, and cause catastrophic failure of the drive gear due to insufficient lubrication. The previous owner stated that he did not remove the vent plug when he serviced the oil after the engine was rebuilt and installed on the motor glider.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to oil starvation as a result of the previous owner's improper servicing of the engine oil.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/9/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1145 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Clermont |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 34711 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 283300N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0814637W |
| 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 | 1153 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 50 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LEE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 76 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| 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) | 22 |
| 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) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| 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 |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25500 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern Region ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 14 2009 11:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N61ZT |
| NTSB Number | ERA09LA238 |
| 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 | Byron J. Moore |
| Aircraft Model | Zealot |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 061 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 925 |
| Aircraft Category | Glider |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 25 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 200 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Fredric P. Griffith |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2242 Orangewood Circle |
| Aircraft Owner City | Zellwood |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32978 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Fredric P. Griffith |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 2242 Orangewood Circle |
| Operator City | Zellwood |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 32978 |
| 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 | 06FD |
| Departure City | Mascotte |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1120 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 06FD |
| Destination City | Mascotte |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 27 2009 12:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| 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 | -- |