Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Kittie Hill Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Leander, Texas 78641
Thursday, June 30, 2011 16:15 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot departed in an experimental amateur-built airplane for a series of local test flights after a recent engine installation. During the first flight, the engine overheated and the pilot returned for a landing. The second flight was uneventful; however, during the third flight, the pilot noticed that the engine did not sound right, so he returned to the airport. The pilot and a mechanic inspected the engine and did not find any anomalies. When the pilot departed on the fourth flight, the engine lost partial power shortly after takeoff. The pilot turned back to the airport and, during the forced landing, the nose gear impacted a depression in the turf runway and the airplane nosed over. Examination of the airplane’s engine did not reveal a reason for the loss of engine power.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The partial loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined because examination of the engine did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/30/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1615 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Leander |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78641 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 303607N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0974908W |
| Event Location Airport | Kittie Hill Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 77T |
| 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 | 1020 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1546 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GTU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 790 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 8000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 37 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KGTU 302046Z 00000KT 10SM SCT080 37/16 A2993 |
| 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) | 31067 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 28 2013 8:27AM |
| User who most recently changed record | hatc |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N59VA |
| NTSB Number | CEN11LA449 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ABBEY VICTOR |
| Aircraft Model | RV9-A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 90928 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | Jun 15 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 310 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HATCH AARON M |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Austin |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78729-4949 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | HATCH AARON M |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Austin |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 78729-4949 |
| 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 | 77T |
| Departure City | Leander |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 77T |
| Destination City | Leander |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 11 2013 2:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | hatc |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 30 |
| Runway Length | 2620 |
| Runway Width | 55 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |