Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Spanish Springs, Nevada
Saturday, July 26, 2014 8:42 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On July 26, 2014, about 0842 Pacific daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Thunder Mustang, N695HR, was destroyed by fire following a forced landing on a road near Spanish Springs, Nevada. The builder/owner/pilot was uninjured, and the passenger received minor injuries. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no FAA flight plan was filed for the flight.
According to the pilot, he kept the airplane at Nut Tree Airport (VCB),Vacaville, California, and the day prior to the accident flight, he flew to Reno/Stead airport (RTS) Reno, Nevada. The plan was to leave with another airplane for Oshkosh/EAA Airventure on July 26, with a fuel stop at Rock Springs, Wyoming, and an overnight stop at Mitchell, South Dakota. The two airplanes departed RTS as a flight of two, and there were two persons on each airplane. The second person on the accident airplane was not a pilot. The airplanes were climbing through 10,000 feet, about 25-30 miles northeast of RTS, and were being switched over to Reno Approach control when the "engine died."
The pilot described the engine failure as "immediate," without any prior symptoms or a gradual onset. The propeller continued to windmill after the loss of power.
The pilot manipulated various engine-related controls in an attempt to get the engine running again, but without success. He did not observe any indications that suggested the nature or cause of the engine failure.
The pilot recognized that he would not be able to return to RTS, or to make it to any other airport. He spotted a road that was suitable for landing, and set up for a landing to the north. Shortly after touchdown, the airplane struck a northbound pick-up truck. The airplane "spun around," the fuel tank was breached, and the left main landing gear collapsed. The airplane came to a stop and a fire began, and after some difficulty with the canopy, both occupants egressed safely.
The pilot held a private pilot certificate with airplane single-engine land and instrument airplane ratings. He reported that he had a total flight experience of approximately 2,200 hours, including about 200 hours in the accident airplane make and model.
The airplane was completed in 2011, and was equipped with a converted non-aviation V-12 engine based on the Chevrolet automotive engine.
The 0855 automated weather observation at Reno International Airport (RNO), Reno, located about 12 miles south of the accident site, included calm winds, visibility 10 miles, few clouds at 15,000 feet, temperature 19 degrees C, dew point 3 degrees C, and an altimeter setting of 30.19 inches of mercury.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/26/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 842 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Spanish Springs |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 855 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 160 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RNO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| 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) | 30.19 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 2 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 3 |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA WPR 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 30 2014 5:37PM |
| User who most recently changed record | huhm |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N695HR |
| NTSB Number | WPR14LA312 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ROSCHER FREDERICK |
| Aircraft Model | THUNDER MUSTANG |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | NO SERIES |
| Aircraft Serial Number | IITM026 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| 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 | 51 AERO LEASING LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 20376 VIA NAPOLI |
| Aircraft Owner City | CUPERTINO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 950146304 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | 51 AERO LEASING LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 20376 VIA NAPOLI |
| Operator City | CUPERTINO |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 950146304 |
| 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 | RTS |
| Departure City | Reno |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 800 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Rock Springs |
| Destination State | WY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 30 2014 5:39PM |
| User who most recently changed record | huhm |
| 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 | -- |