Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Standish, Maine 04084
Sunday, August 10, 2014 17:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On August 10, 2014, about 1730 eastern daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Eagle 540, N34BJ, was substantially damaged during a forced landing following a total loss of engine power near Standish, Maine. The airline transport pilot sustained minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the flight, which originated from Northern Aroostook Regional Airport (FVE), Frenchville, Maine about 1545, and was destined for Sanford Seacoast Regional Airport (SFM), Sanford, Maine. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
According to the pilot, the airplane was about 10 minutes from SFM at an altitude about 4,500 feet mean sea level when it experienced a "complete engine failure." The pilot engaged the manual "wobble" fuel pump and adjusted the mixture and throttle controls, but the engine did not restart. He then identified and maneuvered the airplane toward a suitable landing site on a nearby road. In an attempt to avoid oncoming vehicles on the road, the pilot extended the landing flare distance. About 20 feet above the ground, the pilot observed that he was too slow for a normal power off landing. The airplane impacted the ground "extremely" hard and slid about 100 feet before departing the right side of the road and coming to rest in a ditch.
The airplane was equipped with three fuel tanks: the main tank, which was located in the nose of the fuselage, an upper wing tank, and an auxiliary tank, located in the airplane's front seat. The pilot stated that about 10-13 gallons of fuel remained in the main tank and about 5-8 gallons remained in the upper wing tank at the time of the loss of power. The engine was receiving fuel from the main fuel tank when the loss of power occurred.
Postaccident examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed that the fuel injector system flow divider was void of fuel. Visual examination of the fuel tanks revealed there was no fuel in the auxiliary tank, and about 10 gallons of fuel remaining in the upper wing tank and main fuel tank.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/10/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1730 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Standish |
| Event State | MAINE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 04084 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 430000N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0700000W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 951 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 135 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PWM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 75 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.12 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KPWM 101351Z 32006KT 10SM SCT200 24/16 A3012 |
| 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 Eastern 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 3:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N34BJ |
| NTSB Number | ERA14LA378 |
| 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 | BIRCHLER BOYD |
| Aircraft Model | EAGLE 540 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | BJ-1 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1800 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | 0 |
| Passenger Seats | 1 |
| 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 | Apr 2 2014 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 175 |
| Airframe Hours | 175 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Billy Werth Airshows, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | McCordsville |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 46055 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Billy Werth Airshows, LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | McCordsville |
| Operator State | IN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 46055 |
| 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 | KFVE |
| Departure City | Frenchville |
| Departure State | ME |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1545 |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KSFM |
| Destination City | Sanford |
| Destination State | ME |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 20 2014 3:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |