Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Richland Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Richland Center, Wisconsin 53581
Thursday, October 9, 2014 14:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On October 9, 2014, about 1400 central daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Zenith Zodiak 601XL airplane, N601GK, was substantially damaged during a forced landing near Richland Airport (93C), Richland Center, Wisconsin. The pilot and certified flight instructor were not injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as an instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated without a flight plan. The flight originated from 93C approximately 1330.
The pilot and flight instructor were practicing takeoffs and landings. During the fourth takeoff, the engine started to run rough, started to lose power, and then stopped producing power. During the forced landing to a field, the nose landing gear separated and the left main landing gear was damaged. The firewall was wrinkled and the left wing spar was bent.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/9/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Richland Center |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 53581 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Richland Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 93C |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 225 |
| Airport Elevation | 742 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | 1356 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 145 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KLNR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 15 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| 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 KLNR 091856Z AUTO 27006KT 10SM CLR 15/M01 A3 |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | Federal Aviation Administratio |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 23 2014 12:17PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kaij |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N601GK |
| NTSB Number | CEN15LA020 |
| 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 | KOVARS GARY D |
| Aircraft Model | ZENITH ZODIAK 601XL |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | XL |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4696 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Unknown |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| 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 | KOVARS GARY D |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | BOSCOBEL |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 538058224 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | KOVARS GARY D |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | BOSCOBEL |
| Operator State | WI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 538058224 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 93C |
| Departure City | Richland Center |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 93C |
| Destination City | Richland Center |
| Destination State | WI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 23 2014 12:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kaij |
| 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 | -- |