Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aurora Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Big Rock, Illinois 60511
Sunday, July 31, 2011 7:48 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The accident occurred during the first flight test of the recently completed experimental amateur-built airplane. The tower controller cleared the flight to orbit the airport at 2,500 feet mean sea level (msl) and to make left turns. As the airplane was completing its first orbit of the airport, the pilot told the tower controller that the airplane was experiencing excessive engine cylinder head temperatures and that he would like to land. According to radar track data, the airplane was at 2,700 feet msl and had a ground speed of about 145 knots at that time. The tower controller replied that the wind was calm and that the flight was cleared to land. The pilot acknowledged the landing clearance, and no additional communications were received from the pilot. Radar track data indicated that the airplane began a left descending turn as its ground speed decreased from about 170 to 105 knots, and its descent rate increased from 650 to 2,400 feet per minute. The last radar return was about 2 miles west-southwest of the airport about 400 feet above the ground. A witness observed the accident airplane traveling about 125 feet above the ground at a high speed while in a slight left turn with its landing gear retracted. The airplane leveled its wings momentarily before it entered a left-wing-low, wings-near-vertical descent and then collided with power lines and a cornfield. The postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. No evidence of an in-flight fire was found. The extent of damage to the engine compartment and associated baffling precluded a determination of why the engine developed excessive cylinder head temperatures during the accident flight. However, excessive engine cylinder head temperatures would not have resulted in a flight controllability issue and, therefore, the pilot should have been able to maintain control of the airplane throughout the flight. The pilot had accumulated about 365 hours of flight experience in a comparable airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain airplane control after experiencing excessive engine cylinder head temperatures during the initial flight test of the experimental amateur-built airplane.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/31/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 748 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Big Rock |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 60511 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 414533N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0883052W |
| Event Location Airport | Aurora Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ARR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 251 |
| Airport Elevation | 712 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 752 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 71 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ARR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 712 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| 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) | 30.13 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KARR 311252Z AUTO 00000KT 7SM CLR 23/20 A301 |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32724 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA, Great Lakes 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 27 2014 2:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | foxt |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N345JM |
| NTSB Number | CEN11FA537 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MORRISON |
| Aircraft Model | E-RACER |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 186 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 8 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0 |
| Airframe Hours | 0 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John Kenneth Morrison |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Aurora |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | John Kenneth Morrison |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Aurora |
| Operator State | IL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| 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) | Flight Test |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ARR |
| Departure City | Sugar Grove |
| Departure State | IL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 744 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | ARR |
| Destination City | Sugar Grove |
| Destination State | IL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 27 2014 2:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | foxt |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 6501 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |