Individually Owned: 151,491
Corporate Owned: 139,368
Caldwell Industrial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Caldwell, Idaho 83607
Saturday, August 1, 2009 13:50 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to a family member of the pilot, the airplane had sat on the airport's ramp for about a year without having been flown. About a week before the accident, the pilot flew the airplane once around the traffic pattern. On the day of the accident, the pilot had removed and sandblasted the spark plugs, checked the cylinders for compression, and removed and cleaned the air filter; the filter was reported to have had "some goop" on it. A witness reported observing the airplane take off, and, as it went by him at 100 to 200 feet above ground level, he heard a "popping noise." He subsequently observed the airplane make a quick left turn to a left downwind leg, and as the airplane continued on the downwind he observed the nose increase in pitch, but it was not climbing. As the airplane came abeam the numbers, it made a steep left turn, followed by the nose dropping before it dove into the ground and erupted in flames. The airplane was consumed by a post impact fire. A post accident examination of the engine revealed no anomalies with the cylinders and valve train. All spark plugs were found to have excessive gaps, and all but one failed a bench check when exposed to pressure greater than 80 psi. A post accident examination of the airframe revealed no anomalies. No aircraft or engine logbooks were located during the investigation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed that led to a stall/spin while maneuvering in the traffic pattern.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/1/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1350 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Caldwell |
| Event State | IDAHO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 83607 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 433853N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1163826W |
| Event Location Airport | Caldwell Industrial Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | EUL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 2432 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1335 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EUL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2432 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| 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) | 30.05 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26405 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Regional 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 | Feb 23 2010 12:07PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N69KG |
| NTSB Number | WPR09LA378 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Gray |
| Aircraft Model | RV-6 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 23069 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1650 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Justin C. Walker |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Nampa |
| Aircraft Owner State | ID |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 83651 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Justin C. Walker |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Nampa |
| Operator State | ID |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 83651 |
| 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 | EUL |
| Departure City | Caldwell |
| Departure State | ID |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1350 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| 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 | Dec 9 2009 3:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 12 |
| Runway Length | 5500 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |