Shelby County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Shelbyville, Illinois 62565
Thursday, September 13, 2012 10:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that about 1 hour after takeoff, while established in cruise flight at 3,000 feet mean sea level, the engine lost power completely and without warning. His efforts to restore engine power were not successful. He executed a forced landing to a bean field and the airplane nosed over during the landing roll. A postaccident examination of the engine revealed no evidence of an engine malfunction or failure. Surface weather conditions in the vicinity of the accident site indicated the potential for serious carburetor icing at glide power and moderate icing at cruise power. The exact weather conditions at cruise altitude were not known. Further, an abrupt loss of engine power is not consistent with carburetor icing. Accordingly, a determination of the underlying cause of the loss of engine power could not be determined.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

An abrupt, complete loss of engine power during cruise flight for reasons that could not be determined because postaccident examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/13/2012
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1030
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Shelbyville
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 62565
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 392438N
Event Location Longitude 0885044W
Event Location Airport Shelby County
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 2H0
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 6
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 619
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1035 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 270
Weather Observation Facility ID TAZ
Elevation of weather observation facility 622
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 23
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) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.22
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
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) 30612
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 3 2012 11:02PM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N935B
NTSB Number CEN12LA632
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 Bruce M Barrett
Aircraft Model STOLP STARLET SA500
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 06118
Certified Max Gross Weight 1000
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 1
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Conditional
Date of Last Inspection Jan 2 2012 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name William Mensink
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Preston
Aircraft Owner State MN
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 55965
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name Michael Hayes
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City West Bloomfield
Operator State MI
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 48324
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 OWB
Departure City Owensboro
Departure State KY
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 932
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code CTK
Destination City Canton
Destination State IL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 24 2012 12:05PM
User who most recently changed record sort
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --