Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Limington-Harmon Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Limington, Maine 04049
Saturday, July 12, 2014 16:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On July 12, 2014, about 1645 eastern daylight time, a Culver LFA, N41716, operated by a private individual, was substantially damaged when it impacted trees during takeoff from Limington Airport (63B), Limington, Maine. The airline transport pilot was fatally injured. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the planned flight to Twitchell Airport (3B5), Turner, Maine.
The pilot purchased the airplane in September, 2013 and it was based at 3B5. According to a witness at 63B, the airplane departed on runway 29, a 2,973-foot-long, 50-foot-wide, asphalt runway. The airplane took off in a nose-high attitude, which was followed by a stall to the left and impact with trees off the left side of the runway. Two other witnesses, who lived next to the departure end of the runway, stated that they heard a momentary sputter of engine noise, followed by a return to power. The engine noise then seemed normal for 5 to 10 seconds, which was followed by the sound of an impact. They did not see the impact, but noted that the airplane was not as high as it should have been at the end of the runway.
The airplane came to rest in an area of trees in a nose-down, upright attitude, on a northerly heading about 250 feet south of the runway. The 20-gallon header fuel tank was compromised during impact and a strong odor of fuel was present at the site. Both main landing gear were extended and partially separated during impact. The wings remained attached to the fuselage and exhibited leading edge crush damage. The empennage remained intact and was canted left. Examination of the cockpit revealed that the throttle and mixture controls were in the full-forward position. The magneto switch was on both, the carburetor heat was off and the primer was in and locked.
The airplane was equipped with a Continental Motors C-85-12F, 85-horsepower engine, which was retained for further examination. Additionally, a Garmin 396 GPS was recovered from the cockpit and forwarded to the NTSB Vehicle Recorder Laboratory, Washington, D.C., for data download.
The pilot held an airline transport pilot certificate, with a rating for airplane multiengine land. His most recent Federal Aviation Administration first-class medical certificate was issued on April 30, 2014. At that time, he reported a total flight experience of 5,995 hours; of which, 195 hours were flown during the previous 6 months.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/12/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1645 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Limington |
| Event State | MAINE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 04049 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 434545N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0704039W |
| Event Location Airport | Limington-Harmon Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 63B |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 270 |
| Airport Elevation | 292 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PWM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 76 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.15 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| 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 18 2014 11:31AM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N41716 |
| NTSB Number | ERA14FA337 |
| 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 | CULVER |
| Aircraft Model | LFA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | NO SERIES |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 433 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1305 |
| Aircraft Category | Unknown |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 1 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TATE CLARKE W |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | GRAY |
| Aircraft Owner State | ME |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 040396203 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | TATE CLARKE W |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | GRAY |
| Operator State | ME |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 040396203 |
| 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 | 63B |
| Departure City | Limington |
| Departure State | ME |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 3B5 |
| Destination City | Turner |
| Destination State | ME |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 15 2014 9:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 29 |
| Runway Length | 2973 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |