Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
French Lick Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
French Lick, Indiana 47432
Friday, October 11, 2013 17:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After a short local flight, which consisted of several uneventful turns, the pilot decided to return to the airport for a landing. He reported that the airplane started to lose altitude as he made a right turn to enter the downwind leg of the landing pattern. The pilot responded by advancing the throttle to maximum engine power; however, he was unable to increase airspeed or arrest the descent before the airplane collided with a tree. The passenger reported that the airplane appeared to lose altitude as the pilot performed a steep right turn over a wooded area southwest of the airport. A postaccident airframe examination and engine test run revealed no evidence of a mechanical malfunction or failure that would have precluded normal operation. Wind at the nearest aviation weather reporting station about the time of the accident were calm. The pilot's inability to arrest the airplane's descent or increase its airspeed during a steep turn in the airport traffic pattern, despite his application of full engine power, is consistent with the airplane having encountered an aerodynamic stall.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed while in a steep turn, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall/mush at a low altitude.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/11/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | French Lick |
| Event State | INDIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 47432 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 383022N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0863813W |
| Event Location Airport | French Lick Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FRH |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 250 |
| Airport Elevation | 792 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1655 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 224 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HNB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 529 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KHNB 112055Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 24/12 A30 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32169 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Central Region Duty Officer, J |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 7 2013 11:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | foxt |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8028W |
| NTSB Number | CEN14LA045 |
| 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 | SUTPHIN |
| Aircraft Model | RANS S-12 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0894513 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1100 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 22 2013 12:00AM |
| 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 | Pilot |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Winslow |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 47598 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Pilot |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Winslow |
| Operator State | IN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 47598 |
| 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 | FRH |
| Departure City | French Lick |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1640 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | FRH |
| Destination City | French Lick |
| Destination State | IN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 6 2013 3:50PM |
| User who most recently changed record | foxt |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 08 |
| Runway Length | 5500 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |