Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Brewster Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Holdrege, Nebraska 68949
Friday, July 19, 2013 12:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that the takeoff and climb were normal but that, about 700 to 1,000 feet above ground level, the engine stopped generating power even though the engine and propeller were still turning. Despite troubleshooting efforts, the pilot was unable to restore engine power; he stated that he heard intermittent backfire noise from the engine. While troubleshooting, the pilot banked the airplane back toward the airport but it was not at sufficient altitude to reach it, so he chose to land on a trail road. The pilot had to steer the airplane to the right to avoid a large pipe. Subsequently, the airplane’s right wing contacted corn stalks, and the airplane came to rest in the cornfield.
The airplane was equipped with an optional engine primer system, which included an electrically operated primer diverter valve connected to two primer nozzles, located in the metered fuel supply line between the air throttle valve and the manifold valve on each side of the engine. Actuation of the engine primer switch operates the auxiliary electric fuel pump and energizes the diverter valve that supplies fuel to each primer nozzle. Downloaded data from an engine monitor revealed that, about 2 minutes after takeoff, the fuel flow to the engine decreased from about 18 gallons per hour to about 2 gallons per hour and that four of the six cylinders’ exhaust gas temperatures and cylinder head temperatures decreased rapidly. An examination of the wreckage revealed that the airplane’s electric fuel pump activated when the battery was reconnected and the electric fuel pump selector was in the “off” position. The engine started, but it did not run smoothly. The engine was removed from the airplane and subsequently run in a test cell, and it was operational. The engine was test run again with the diverter valve electrically actuated; the engine subsequently ran roughly at low power and backfired. The panel-mounted primer switch was examined, and it did not exhibit any anomalies. The engine test run with the activation of the primer diverter valve duplicated the pilot’s report of a loss of engine power and subsequent backfiring.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power during takeoff due to the activation of the primer diverter valve.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/19/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1200 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Holdrege |
| Event State | NEBRASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 68949 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 402808N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0992252W |
| Event Location Airport | BREWSTER FIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HDE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 296 |
| Airport Elevation | 2313 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1155 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 121 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KHDE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2309 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| 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) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| 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) | 30.02 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KHDE 191655Z AUTO 05007KT 10SM CLR 30/19 A3002 |
| 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) | 33039 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-AGL-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 28 2014 12:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | male |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N31698 |
| NTSB Number | CEN13FA429 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28R-201T |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28R-7803296 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 29 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4784 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ALTITUDE LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | LEOTI |
| Aircraft Owner State | KS |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 67861-6260 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | ALTITUDE LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | LEOTI |
| Operator State | KS |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 67861-6260 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| 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 | HDE |
| Departure City | Holdrege |
| Departure State | NE |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 3K7 |
| Destination City | Leoti |
| Destination State | KS |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 11 2014 5:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | male |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |