Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hudson, Kentucky 40143
Saturday, April 14, 2012 13:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
About 2 months before the accident, the homebuilt experimental airplane began to experience electrical problems. This was first discovered when the landing gear hesitated before extending. To extend the landing gear during subsequent flights, the pilot shut off all nonessential electrical equipment in the airplane, extended the landing gear, and then turned the electrical equipment back on. On the morning of the accident, while on approach at the destination airport, the electrical system failed and the landing gear would not extend. The pilot reached behind his seat, "jiggled" the airplane's battery cables, and was able to restore electricity and extend the landing gear. He landed the airplane uneventfully and shut the airplane down.
After shutdown, the airplane had to be "hand propped" to be restarted; however, the pilot could not adjust the electrically-controlled propeller to the proper pitch for takeoff. The pilot removed the battery from his airplane and returned to his home airport with another pilot. He charged two batteries and returned with the charged batteries to his airplane. The pilot installed one of the batteries in his airplane and stated that if he could get the airplane started, he would fly it back to his home airport with the landing gear down.
The airplane started after three attempts, and the pilot taxied to the runway. A witness observed fuel exiting the right wingtip fuel vent during taxi, indicating that there was fuel in the main wing tanks. The pilot departed, and while he was en route, he transmitted that he was experiencing a problem and that he was going to land in a field. A witness observed the airplane at low altitude but did not hear any engine noise as the airplane passed him. The airplane then maneuvered around a barn and touched down in a level attitude in a harvested corn field. The airplane’s landing gear collapsed, and the airplane nosed over.
Examination of the airplane and engine revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical failure or malfunction; however, examination of the propeller indicated that the engine was not producing power, and the header tank, which supplied fuel to the engine, contained only 8 ounces of fuel. The inline fuel filter and fuel strainer contained only trace amounts of fuel. Further examination revealed that the header tank received its fuel from the wing tanks via electrically-operated transfer pumps. Examination of a connector that connected the positive battery cable to the master relay revealed that the inside of the connector's collar, which had been soldered and crimped onto the battery cable, was moist and heavily corroded, and that not all of the battery cable's wire strands were in contact with the collar of the connector. Further examination revealed that the end of battery cable that had been retained by the connector's collar was also moist and exhibited significant corrosion, indicating that the connector had been exposed to a corrosive environment. Examination of the battery box revealed corrosion and electrolyte (sulfuric acid) residue, which indicated that a release of electrolyte from a previously-installed battery had occurred. Additionally, comparison of the position of the positive battery cable's run from the battery terminal to the master contactor revealed that the master contactor was mounted below the top of the battery and that no precautions had been taken to prevent liquid from running down the cable into the base of the connector.
With a failure of the electrical wiring interconnect, the airplane’s battery was unable to power the electrical system. Because the fuel transfer pumps were electrically powered, fuel was not transferred to the header tank to feed the engine, and a loss of engine power occurred. Additionally, without electrical power, the propeller could not be adjusted and the electrically-actuated landing gear could not be retracted to reduce drag and extend the airplane’s glide. Further, because the wing flaps were electrically operated, they could not be extended during the landing, thus the airplane touched down at a higher speed (13 or more knots) than normal touchdown speed, which reduced the survivability of the accident when the airplane nosed over.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's decision to operate the airplane with known electrical system problems, which resulted in the in-flight failure of the electrical wiring interconnect system, loss of electrical power, and subsequent fuel starvation and loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/14/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Hudson |
| Event State | KENTUCKY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 40143 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 374109N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0862008W |
| 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 | 1355 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FTK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 755 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 8500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| 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) | 31426 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern Region ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 13 2013 9:21AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N235MW |
| NTSB Number | ERA12FA280 |
| 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 | MANZITTO MICHAEL A |
| Aircraft Model | MWLANCAIR 235 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | MW06 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1400 |
| 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 | May 11 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 86 |
| Airframe Hours | 324 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | KLEIN DONALD E JR |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | LOUISVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | KY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 40299-3271 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | KLEIN DONALD E JR |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | LOUISVILLE |
| Operator State | KY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 40299-3271 |
| 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 | 2I3 |
| Departure City | Falls of Rough |
| Departure State | KY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1325 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LOU |
| Destination City | Louisville |
| Destination State | KY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 9 2013 3:17PM |
| User who most recently changed record | reej |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |