Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Private Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tidioute, Pennsylvania 16351
Friday, May 13, 2011 16:32 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The private pilot stated that he had been operating the experimental light sport airplane at a low altitude with a passenger. As he turned into the final approach to land at his private strip, the right wing collided with a tree. The airplane rolled right, he added power, the nose of the airplane pitched down, and the airplane collided with the ground and nosed over inverted. The pilot stated that he did not experience any mechanical problems with the airplane prior to the accident. Examination of the airframe, flight controls, engine assembly and accessories revealed no preaccident anomalies. Witnesses reported that the pilot had been flying low over the area prior to the accident. Additionally, prior to returning for landing at his private airstrip, the pilot had allowed the landing gear to contact the top of a tree at the witness's residence. Postaccident testing of a blood specimen, obtained from the pilot approximately 90 minutes following the accident, was positive for alcohol at 149 mg/dl (0.149 percent).
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's impairment due to alcohol and failure to maintain altitude on approach to landing, resulting in an in-flight collision with a tree.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/13/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1632 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Tidioute |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 16351 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 413947N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0792412W |
| Event Location Airport | Private |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1425 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1615 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FKL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1540 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 11000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4400 |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 17 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.73 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28726 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern -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 | Aug 12 2011 1:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N433UB |
| NTSB Number | ERA11LA300 |
| 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 | Carothers |
| Aircraft Model | Zenith CH701 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6695 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1100 |
| 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 | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | James R. Carothers Jr. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tiioute |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 16351 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | James R. Carothers Jr. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Tiioute |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 16351 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | Tidioute |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1615 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Tidioute |
| Destination State | PA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 12 2011 1:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 09 |
| Runway Length | 830 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |