Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Mount Airy/Surry County Arpt Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mount Airy, North Carolina 27030
Thursday, March 14, 2013 19:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he intended to perform a flyby before landing. As he approached the runway about 50 feet above ground level, the pilot advanced the throttle to full; however, the engine immediately stopped. He responded by pitching the airplane up and to the right. The airplane then entered a steep left turn. The airspeed decreased to 100 mph, and the airplane started to vibrate, so the pilot quickly leveled the wings and pitched downward to prevent the airplane from entering a stall. The pilot continued to fly a wings-level descent until the airplane impacted terrain. Examination of the airplane revealed that the engine choke cable was rigged backwards; therefore, pulling the choke knob out opened the choke valve and pushing it in closed it. The choke knob, which is located directly behind the pilot's head, was found pushed in during postaccident examination. Therefore, it was likely that the pilot's head contacted the choke while he was responding to the loss of engine power, which resulted in a closed choke and a corresponding total loss of engine power. The experimental amateur-built airplane was equipped with an automobile engine and was never certified as airworthy; therefore, it was never issued an airworthiness certificate.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A total loss of engine power due to the pilot's inadvertent closing of the engine choke. Contributing to the accident was the improper rigging of the engine choke cable.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/14/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1915 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Mount Airy |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 27030 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 362735N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0803310W |
| Event Location Airport | Mount Airy/Surry County Arpt |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MWK |
| 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 | 1249 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1935 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MWK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1249 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| 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) | 30.13 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KMWK 142335Z AUTO 28003KT 10SM CLR 07/M13 A3 |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 31916 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 3 2013 2:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N30BA |
| NTSB Number | ERA13LA167 |
| 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 | ALLEN |
| Aircraft Model | BD-5 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | NBA-19 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 830 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Chris Gammons |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Statesville |
| Operator State | NC |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 28625 |
| 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 | SVH |
| Departure City | Statesville |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1900 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MWK |
| Destination City | Mount Airy |
| Destination State | NC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 3 2013 2:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | 4301 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |