Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Stetson, Maine 04488
Thursday, February 17, 2011 15:30 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was in cruise flight at 1,500 feet over a heavily wooded area when the airplane began to vibrate violently before sustaining a total loss of engine power. The pilot made a forced landing and the airplane collided with trees and the ground. The pilot stated that, about 30 flight hours before this accident, the airplane experienced a similar severe vibration in flight. He shut down the engine and made a successful forced landing to a nearby airport. Examination of the airplane revealed that a triangle-shaped aluminum plate on the rear of the propeller hub had cracked. The pilot installed a new propeller hub and the original propeller blades about 7 months before the accident and began flying again without any vibrations. The total hours on the propeller blades are unknown.
A postaccident examination at the accident site revealed that both carburetors had separated from the engine assembly and were hanging by their fuel lines and throttle cables. One composite propeller blade was delaminated with a large section missing. The remaining two propeller blades appeared to be intact without comparable or crash-related damage. The carburetor detachment likely caused the final engine failure and this separation was likely a consequence of the severe vibration.
Metallurgical examination of the propeller blades identified that separation of a portion of blade No. 1 initiated as a transverse fracture, originating near the trailing edge of the blade. The transverse fracture was progressive in nature, with the crack propagating in some combination of fatigue and/or stress rupture under continually applied loads. Blade No. 2 also exhibited a pattern of parallel transverse cracks on its aft side. Blade No. 3 was also visibly damaged, with significant delamination or disbonding of the woven carbon-fiber composite skin from the forward side of the blade, along with delamination at the trailing edge. Blade No. 3 also exhibited a pattern of parallel transverse cracks on its aft side. This damage was consistent with bending of the tip of the blade forward under air loading.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The in-flight failure of the No. 1 composite propeller blade due to fatigue, which resulted in a violent vibration, loss of engine power, and a subsequent forced landing to unsuitable terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/17/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Stetson |
| Event State | MAINE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 04488 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 445113N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0690351W |
| 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 | 1553 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BGR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 192 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 11 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| 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 |
| 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) | 29483 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Maine 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 22 2011 1:37PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N213 |
| NTSB Number | ERA11LA150 |
| 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 | FLAGLOR TOM |
| Aircraft Model | KOLB AIRCRAFT MK III |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | M3-248 |
| 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 | Mar 20 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 59 |
| Airframe Hours | 177 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BATCHELDER ELLERY D JR |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | LEVANT |
| Aircraft Owner State | ME |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 04456-4010 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | BATCHELDER ELLERY D JR |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| 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 | OLD |
| Departure City | Old Town |
| Departure State | ME |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 1BO |
| Destination City | Dexter |
| Destination State | ME |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 23 2012 3:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grol |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |