Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Burley Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Burley, Idaho 83318
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 9:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The student pilot reported that despite his request for the airplane to be refueled with 30 gallons of fuel prior to takeoff, the fixed base operator had filled the airplane with 67.7 gallons of fuel. The flight instructor reported that after the student pilot was notified that the airplane had been topped off with fuel, he "ran the numbers in [his] head and determined it would be fine because of the same conditions that were present" for takeoff from a different airport earlier in the day. The student pilot reported that while on the initial climb from the airport, the airplane stopped climbing and began to descend. At an altitude of 100 feet above ground level, the flight instructor took control of the airplane to ensure a proper climbout speed was maintained. The airplane continued to descend and collided with power lines. Subsequently, the airplane nosed over and impacted the ground in a vacant lot. A witness reported that the airplane slowly accelerated down the 4,067-foot-long runway and used approximately 85 to 90 percent of the available runway to become airborne. The witness observed the airplane "climbing at an extremely slow rate," and stated it appeared that "the pilot attempted to increase the rate of climb twice," which resulted in the airplane’s "left wing starting to dip as it appeared to be approaching a stall." Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the empennage had separated from the fuselage just aft of the cabin and that the rudder, vertical stabilizer, nose, and wings were structurally damaged. No mechanical anomalies were noted with the engine or airframe. Takeoff performance calculations for the reported weather conditions revealed that the airplane’s required takeoff distance to clear a 50-foot obstacle was 3,921 feet on a paved surface.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The flight instructor's failure to maintain clearance from power lines during takeoff.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/1/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 930 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Burley |
| Event State | IDAHO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 83318 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 423233N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1134617W |
| Event Location Airport | Burley Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BYI |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 4150 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 853 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BYI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4150 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 11000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26349 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 20 2009 5:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N87487 |
| NTSB Number | WPR09LA323 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | REPUBLIC |
| Aircraft Model | RC-3 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 38 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3150 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 26 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 15 |
| Airframe Hours | 1192 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Ken Paulsen |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Klamath Falls |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97603 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Ken Paulsen |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Klamath Falls |
| Operator State | OR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 97603 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | Burley |
| Departure State | ID |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 930 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | EUL |
| Destination City | Caldwell |
| Destination State | ID |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 20 2009 5:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 24 |
| Runway Length | 4067 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |