Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Flintstone, Maryland 21530
Sunday, August 30, 2009 9:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was flying at an altitude of 2,800 feet mean sea level when the engine of his homebuilt airplane abruptly lost power. After many failed attempts to restart the engine, the pilot landed in a wooded area. The airplane came to rest in a nose-low attitude suspended off the ground between two trees. The pilot sustained minor injuries and the airplane incurred substantial damage. An examination of the engine found evidence of inadequate lubrication to the engine’s rotary valve and foreign material and debris in both carburetors. During the examination, the rotary valve was only able to produce a few turns of the propeller before it stuck in a position that cut off the fuel/oil mixture’s flow to the cylinder. The rotary valve’s oil tank was empty and the pilot stated that he had never added any oil to it in the 49 hours the airplane was operated. Review of the engine’s operators and maintenance manuals revealed that the engine had been improperly stored for 18 years.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A total loss of engine power due to the lack of sufficient lubrication and the pilot/owner’s failure to adequately service the airplane’s engine.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/30/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 915 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Flintstone |
| Event State | MARYLAND |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 21530 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 393700N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0783800W |
| 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 | 25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 412 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 910 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 35 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CBE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 775 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27570 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Maryland State Police |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 21 2010 2:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N69377 |
| NTSB Number | ERA09LA491 |
| 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 | MYERS DONALD E |
| Aircraft Model | KITFOX 4 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1514 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1050 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 1 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 4 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 50 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MYERS DONALD E |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | NEEDMORE |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 17238-9350 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | MYERS DONALD E |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | NEEDMORE |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 17238-9350 |
| 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 | W35 |
| Departure City | Berkeley Spring |
| Departure State | WV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 845 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CBE |
| Destination City | Cumberland |
| Destination State | MD |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 5 2010 10:21AM |
| 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 | -- |