Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Flying Circus Aerodrome Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Warrenton, Virginia 22728
Sunday, June 29, 2014 14:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On June 29, 2014, about 1445 eastern daylight time, a Waco UPF-7, N32162, impacted trees after it experienced a total loss of engine power and performed a forced landing to a field near Warrenton, Virginia. The private pilot sustained minor injuries. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings and fuselage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The airplane was registered to a private individual and operated by another private individual under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. The airplane had departed from the Flying Circus Aerodrome (3VA3), near Warrenton, Virginia.
According to the pilot, the purpose of the flight was to fly in the opening act of a flying circus. He fueled the airplane prior to takeoff, performed a preflight, and engine run up. After takeoff, he performed five circuits in the pattern with other airplanes just prior to the accident sequence. During the fifth circuit, he "pushed up the power after the pass;" however, the engine did not respond. Then, there was a "puff of smoke" that came out from under the cowling and the engine had a loss of total power. The pilot began to turn back toward the runway to perform an emergency landing, but he realized that the runway was too far away. Then, he verified that the throttle and mixture were "full forward," and performed a forced landing to an open field. During the landing roll, the airplane impacted trees and came to rest in an upright position.
Examination of the engine by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that thumb compression was confirmed on all cylinders by rotating propeller by hand. Both magnetos were tested and no anomalies were noted. The spark plugs were removed from the cylinders and no anomalies were noted. The carburetor was removed from the engine and fluid similar in color and smell to 100LL aviation fuel was noted in the carburetor bowl. The carburetor float was removed, it was intact, and no discrepancies were noted. The finger screen was removed from the carburetor and no debris was noted. The carburetor butterfly operated when the mixture control was moved. The fuel from the wing tank sight gauges and carburetor bowl was examined with no contaminants noted.
The engine was retained for further examination.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/29/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1445 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Warrenton |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 22728 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 383258N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0774301W |
| Event Location Airport | FLYING CIRCUS AERODROME |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 3VA3 |
| 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 | 98 |
| Airport Elevation | 315 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1435 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 259 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KCJR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 313 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.86 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 29 2014 3:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N32162 |
| NTSB Number | ERA14LA319 |
| 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 | WACO |
| Aircraft Model | UPF 7 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5794 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3095 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 1 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CORRADI JOHN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | RIXEYVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 227373259 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | CORRADI JOHN |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | RIXEYVILLE |
| Operator State | VA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 227373259 |
| 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 | 3VA3 |
| Departure City | Warrenton |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 3VA3 |
| Destination City | Warrenton |
| Destination State | VA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 29 2014 3:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |