Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Pinal Airpark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Marana, Arizona 85245
Saturday, April 16, 2011 8:05 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Before the flight, the sport pilot fueled the experimental, amateur-built, light-sport airplane and conducted a preflight inspection without the aid of a checklist. He and his passenger then departed for a destination about 110 miles away. About 14 minutes after takeoff, during the climb, the passenger smelled engine coolant, and the pilot observed excessively high engine oil and coolant temperature indications. He reduced engine rpm and decided to conduct a precautionary landing at a non-towered airport south of his current position. When the airplane was north of the runway threshold, he realized that he would not reach the runway and aimed instead for the airport ramp. He then realized he would not reach the ramp and intentionally allowed the airplane to stall onto the flat earthen floor of a water catchment basin. The pilot did not use available engine power during the descent to ensure a landing on an appropriate surface, even though the engine remained running until he shut it down after impact. Examination of the airplane revealed that the engine coolant had drained in flight due to an unsecured system cap. The pilot stated that he did not check the coolant system during his preflight inspection.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to conduct an adequate preflight inspection, which resulted in a loss of engine coolant during climb due to an unsecured tank cap. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to use available engine power to ensure a landing on an appropriate surface.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/16/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 805 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Marana |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85245 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 323035N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1111931W |
| Event Location Airport | Pinal Airpark |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MZJ |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1893 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 753 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 135 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TUS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1100 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| 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) | 29.96 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 31292 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Western Pacific ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 7 2013 2:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N107JL |
| NTSB Number | WPR11LA202 |
| 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 | RANS |
| Aircraft Model | S-12 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | S |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 05020945 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1150 |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 27 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 15 |
| Airframe Hours | 437 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Charles T Bethard |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tucson |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85742 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Charles T Bethard |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Tucson |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 85742 |
| 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 | 4AZ8 |
| Departure City | Avra Valley |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 753 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 58AZ |
| Destination City | Young |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 7 2013 2:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 12 |
| Runway Length | 6849 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |