Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Tobias Airfield Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Halifax, Pennsylvania 17032
Tuesady, July 22, 2014 20:55 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On July 22, 2014, about 2055 eastern daylight time, an experimental light sport Ultrastar, N4425W, was substantially damaged during a forced landing just after takeoff from a private airstrip near Halifax, Pennsylvania. The student pilot was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight, which was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
According to the pilot, he had not flown the airplane in about three years, and in the days preceding the accident flight, had been inspecting the airplane. The inspection included removing the carburetor float bowls to check for contamination, performing run-up checks of the engine, and performing several high-speed taxi runs down the length of the runway. Noting no abnormalities, he ultimately elected to depart on the accident flight.
During the climb, while about 200 feet above the ground, the pilot noted that the airplane's engine did not seem to be producing enough power. He elaborated that the engine continued to sound normal, but he felt as if its power output was slowly decreasing over the course of about 10 seconds. Due to the small size of the tachometer, he was unable to determine if the engine rpm had changed. With the airplane descending, the pilot chose a cornfield as a forced landing site, as there was no safe area straight ahead, nor did he feel the airplane had enough altitude to return to the runway. During the approach for landing, the airplane slowed, entered an aerodynamic stall, and impacted the cornfield, resulting in serious injury to the pilot and substantial damage to the airplane.
An examination of the airplane's engine was scheduled for a later date.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/22/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 2055 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Halifax |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 17032 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 403010N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0765414W |
| Event Location Airport | Tobias Airfield |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 635 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2058 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 105 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KMUI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 489 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 16 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| 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) | 30.08 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KMUI 230058Z AUTO 20005KT 10SM FEW050 27/22 |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| 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 | Aug 6 2014 2:05PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4425W |
| NTSB Number | ERA14LA351 |
| 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 | SILER RONALD E |
| Aircraft Model | ULTRASTAR |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 12748 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 650 |
| 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 | 1 |
| 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 | SILER RONALD E |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4209 PARK ST |
| Aircraft Owner City | CAMP HILL |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 170114138 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | SILER RONALD E |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 4209 PARK ST |
| Operator City | CAMP HILL |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 170114138 |
| 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 | NONE |
| Departure City | Halifax |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2055 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | Halifax |
| Destination State | PA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 6 2014 2:05PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |