Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Rockledge Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rockledge, Florida 32995
Friday, June 20, 2014 15:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he was conducting touch-and-go landings on a river. About 300 feet above ground level, the engine began to misfire and subsequently failed. The pilot did not have sufficient altitude to switch fuel pumps and attempt an engine restart, so he chose to conduct a forced landing. During the landing flare, the airplane lost lift, landed hard on the water, and nosed over. Examination of the engine found that a ground wire lug on the No. 1 fuel pump was loose, which caused the ground wire to have intermittent contact with the lead and likely caused the fuel pump to malfunction and the engine to subsequently lose power. The most recent conditional inspection was completed about 10 months before the accident. The pilot, who was a certificated experimental aircraft repairman and conducted maintenance on the airplane, stated that he "must have missed this item on his last inspection.”
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s failure to maintain airspeed during a forced landing following a loss of engine power, which resulted in a hard landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s inadequate inspection of the engine, which resulted in a loose ground wire lug on a fuel pump and the subsequent loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/20/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rockledge |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32995 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 281923N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0804156W |
| Event Location Airport | Rockledge Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 21FA |
| 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 | 27 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1458 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 135 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | COF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 8 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KCOF 201858Z AUTO 01009KT 10SM VCTS FEW060 2 |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 33329 |
| 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 | Aug 20 2014 4:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N700WS |
| NTSB Number | ERA14LA309 |
| 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 | SIMMONS WILLIAM E |
| Aircraft Model | AVENTURA 2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | AP99WS |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1430 |
| 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 | Sep 1 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 134 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ALAS LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 500 BARNES BLVD |
| Aircraft Owner City | ROCKLEDGE |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 329555208 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | William Simmons |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | ROCKLEDGE |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 329555208 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 21FA |
| Departure City | Rockledge |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 21FA |
| Destination City | Rockledge |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 20 2014 4:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |