Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Blackwater Creek Ultralight Fl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Plant City, Florida 33565
Saturday, June 9, 2012 11:26 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the airport manager, the purpose of the flight was for the student pilot/owner to get “one last flight” in the airplane before he sold it. The pilot had experienced health issues and undergone surgery in the years prior to the accident, and had not flown the airplane in about 1 year. The manager watched the entire flight and described the takeoff as “normal.” The first landing approach was “fast and long,” and the pilot performed a go-around and entered the traffic pattern for a second approach. The manager and other witnesses stated that the airplane descended on the base leg of the traffic pattern to about 500 feet, and that the airplane turned and aligned with the runway. During the descent on final approach, the airplane pitched up, leveled off, descended, and pitched up multiple times with corresponding changes in engine power. The airplane “wandered” to the west and was briefly flying parallel to the runway as it headed toward the witnesses on the grass apron and the hangars on the west side of the field. The airplane then pitched up, the nose dropped, and the airplane impacted the ground in a nose-down attitude of about 25-30 degrees. During the descent and at ground contact, the engine was running “at cruise power,” according to the airport manager. The engine continued to run after the accident, and first responders had to pull one of the carburetors from its mount in order to stop the engine. The 79 year-old pilot/owner had never obtained a pilot certificate. Over the 60 years that he documented his flight time, the pilot reported 122 total flight hours. The accident airplane was purchased almost 20 years before the accident but was not registered until 5 years before the accident. At the time of the accident, the airplane had accumulated 19 total airframe hours.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The non-certificated pilot’s loss of control during approach and landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s lack of both total and recent flight experience.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/9/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1126 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Plant City |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33565 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 280808N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0820828W |
| Event Location Airport | Blackwater Creek Ultralight Fl |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 9FD2 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 80 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1115 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KPCM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 153 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| 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) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.02 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KPCM 091515Z AUTO 16003KT 10SM BKN050 BKN085 |
| 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) | 31003 |
| 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 | Apr 4 2013 3:50PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2571T |
| NTSB Number | ERA12FA387 |
| 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 | PHILLIPS WILLIAM L |
| Aircraft Model | CHALLENGER |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | CH20970 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1120 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| 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 5 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0 |
| Airframe Hours | 19 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PHILLIPS WILLIAM L |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAKELAND |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33805 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | PHILLIPS WILLIAM L |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | LAKELAND |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33805 |
| 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 | 9FD2 |
| Departure City | Plant City |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1115 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 9FD2 |
| Destination City | Plant City |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 11 2013 1:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | 2300 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |