Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Kittie Hill Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Leander, Texas 78641
Sunday, July 22, 2012 15:45 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that after a seemingly normal takeoff, the airplane would not climb, and he believed that the engine was not producing full power. The airplane impacted trees on the right side of the runway. The pilot stated that before the attempted takeoff, he performed an engine run-up, during which he checked the operation of the carburetor heat; however, he did not leave the carburetor heat on at higher power settings for more than a few seconds. The pilot then taxied the airplane from the ramp area to the end of the runway for takeoff. The airplane was operating near or slightly over its maximum gross weight when the accident occurred, and the density altitude was calculated to be 3,347 feet. Postaccident examination revealed no preimpact malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The atmospheric conditions at the time of the accident were conducive for serious carburetor icing at glide power settings. Glide power settings yield a throttle angle similar to low power settings used for taxi operations; therefore, it is likely that the airplane’s carburetor accumulated ice after engine run-up and during taxi, which was not detected by the pilot. This subsequent loss of power due to the carburetor ice accumulation resulted in a reduction in climb performance during takeoff and the resultant impact with trees on the side of the runway.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The partial loss of engine power due to carburetor ice accumulation, which resulted in the airplane’s reduced climb performance and subsequent impact with trees off the end of the runway.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/22/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1545 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Leander |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78641 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 303558N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0974925W |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1027 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1348 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 | 12000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | ################################################## |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 31786 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA - CEN - ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 16 2013 2:17PM |
| User who most recently changed record | brajo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N71743 |
| NTSB Number | CEN12LA477 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | LUSCOMBE |
| Aircraft Model | 8A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3170 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1400 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 21 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1470 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jack Fleetwood/Bruce Evans |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Round Rock |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78664 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Jack Fleetwood |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Round Rock |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 78664 |
| 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 | 1400 |
| 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 | Sep 20 2012 4:53PM |
| User who most recently changed record | brajo |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17 |
| Runway Length | 2350 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |