Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Private Landing Strip Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Castlerock, Minnesota 55010
Tuesady, July 31, 2012 14:10 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was flying his experimental airplane, practicing touch-and-go landings on his 1,400 foot long private grass airstrip. The weather was clear. During his third touch-and-go, he determined that he was going to land too long so he made a go-around. As he added power for the go-around, he started to feel vibrations and thought that he had a propeller malfunction. The vibrations continued regardless of power setting, so he shut down the engine and intentionally stalled the airplane about 10 feet above the ground to avoid rolling over when the airplane settled to the ground. The airplane came to rest in a corn field. The pilot saw that a fire had started in the engine compartment after ground impact, so he quickly exited the airplane. A post-crash fire then completely consumed the airplane. Examination of the airplane after the accident did not show any evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunction or abnormalities, although the fire damage was too extensive to specifically determine the reason for presumed propeller malfunction. After the examination, the pilot maintained that he was certain that there was a problem with the propeller and that it was the cause of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Propeller system failure during a go-around maneuver resulting in a forced landing. Contributing to the severity of damage to the airplane was the postimpact fire.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/31/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1410 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Castlerock |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 55010 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 443244N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0930812W |
| Event Location Airport | Private Landing Strip |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 000 |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1332 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SYN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 920 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.08 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KSYN 311932Z AUTO 02007KT 10SM CLR 28/06 A3008 RMK |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 31582 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 25 2013 1:21PM |
| User who most recently changed record | rows |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N396BK |
| NTSB Number | CEN12CA597 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BORDELON BRUCE |
| Aircraft Model | KITFOX IV |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 1200 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | C9400070 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1200 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 1 |
| 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 | May 30 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 35 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SVIEN BENNY H |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3150 280TH ST W |
| Aircraft Owner City | NORTHFIELD |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 55057-5305 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | SVIEN BENNY H |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 3150 280TH ST W |
| Operator City | NORTHFIELD |
| Operator State | MN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 55057-5305 |
| 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 | 000 |
| Departure City | Castlerock |
| Departure State | MN |
| 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 | 000 |
| Destination City | Castlerock |
| Destination State | MN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 3 2013 5:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | lema |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | 1400 |
| Runway Width | 80 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |