- Date
- August 6, 2001, 08:30 local (14:30 UTC)
- Place
- Belle Fourche, SD
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N312GRGrice Avid Flyer
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 3, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20010806019209A
- Case key
- 52952
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot failed to maintain aircraft control during the forced landing. A factor associated with the accident was the excessive adjustment that the pilot made to the propeller's pitch prior to the flight.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The airplane impacted the terrain during an aborted takeoff. The pilot reported the purpose of the flight was to check the propeller pitch because he had adjusted it. He reported that airplane was "sluggish" during the initial takeoff climb so he leveled off. He reported he checked the engine temperature and rpm, and the engine was close to "over revving." The pilot reported that because he had difficulty maintaining altitude, he decided to abort the takeoff by turning left into the wind so he could land on the grass alongside the runway. The pilot reported the airplane contacted the grass "…with a strong side load on the landing gear." Post accident inspection of the airplane revealed the propeller had been adjusted to too high of a pitch setting.
Factual narrative
On August 6, 2001, at 0830 mountain daylight time, a Grice Avid Flyer, N312GR, collided with the terrain during an aborted takeoff from runway 14 (4,498 feet by 60 feet, asphalt) at the Belle Fourche Municipal Airport, Belle Fourche, South Dakota. The private pilot was not injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. The 14 CFR Part 91 flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The local flight was originating at the time of the accident.
The pilot reported the purpose of the flight was to check the propeller pitch because he had adjusted it. He reported that airplane was "sluggish" during the initial takeoff climb so he leveled off. He reported he checked the engine temperature and rpm, and the engine was close to "over revving." The pilot reported that because he had difficulty maintaining altitude, he decided to abort the takeoff by turning left into the wind so he could land on the grass alongside the runway. The pilot reported the airplane contacted the grass "…with a strong side load on the landing gear."
The main landing gear collapsed during the landing. All three-propeller blades separated from the hub and the fuselage was twisted.
Post accident inspection of the airplane revealed the propeller had been adjusted to too high of a pitch setting.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N312GR
- Reported as
- Grice Avid Flyer
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1260D
- Airframe hours
- 173
- Engine
- Rotax 583, 68 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Hal D. Mathews
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 7, 2000 · 33 hours before
- Departed
- EFC · Belle Fourche, SD
- Destination
- EFC · Belle Fourche, SD
- Airport
- EFC · Belle Fourche Municipal, runway 14, 4,498 × 60 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 49
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- December 18, 2000
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 363 total · 123 in this make and model · 337 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.27 inHg
- Observed at
- RAP, 55 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.