# NTSB CHI08LA125: Rans S-12 XL, N9148Y, Pelion, SC, May 4, 2008 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Serious injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: May 4, 2008, 14:00 local (18:00 UTC) - Place: Pelion, SC - Coordinates: 33.779323, -81.240791 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=33.7793&lon=-81.2408&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Approach](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/500) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Approach-VFR pattern base: Powerplant sys/comp malf/fail](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/340) - Highest injury: Serious injuries - Injuries: 1 serious, 1 uninjured - Status: Completed, report October 21, 2010 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Parties: FAA, Flight Standards District Office - NTSB case key (mKey): 68232 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=CHI08LA125 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/68232/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=68232 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI08LA125 ## Probable cause A loss of engine power due to the improper actions of the instructor pilot and the low experience level of the instructor pilot in this make and model of aircraft. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Power plant](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01057100): Aircraft › Aircraft power plant · Not specified (probable cause); cases with it: [Adams Richard E S-12 XL AIRAILE, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01057100/cases.md?model=05625I2), [All aircraft, 198 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01057100/cases.md) - [Experience/qualifications: total experience](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02031015): Personnel issues › Experience/knowledge · Instructor/check pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Adams Richard E S-12 XL AIRAILE, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02031015/cases.md?model=05625I2), [All aircraft, 126 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02031015/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Approach-VFR pattern base: Powerplant sys/comp malf/fail](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/340) (defining event); cases with it: [Adams Richard E S-12 XL AIRAILE, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/340/sequence.md?model=05625I2), [All aircraft, 820 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/340/sequence.md) - [Approach-VFR pattern base: Loss of engine power (total)](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341); cases with it: [Adams Richard E S-12 XL AIRAILE, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341/sequence.md?model=05625I2), [All aircraft, 3,820 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341/sequence.md) ## Analysis The flight was a short instructional flight in an experimental amateur-homebuilt airplane with a flight instructor with no flight time in the airplane, flying from the right seat. The flight was making a turn to base when the right seat instructor pilot reduced the power and the engine lost power. A forced landing was executed and the aircraft was substantially damaged upon impact with the ground. Inspection revealed no pre-accident anomalies with the engine. The right seat instructor pilot's recommendations were not to reduce power on a two stroke engine. The right seat instructor pilot also believed the left seat student pilot, with all the time in the aircraft, should have told him not to reduce power on the two stroke engine. ## Factual narrative On May 4, 2008, at 1400 eastern daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Airaile, S-12 XL; N9148Y, crashed during a forced landing after losing power while turning to base leg for runway 35 at the Lexington County Airport, in Pelion, South Carolina. The instructor pilot in the right seat reported serious injuries and no injuries to the student pilot in the left seat. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and the 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight was not operating on a flight plan. The flight had departed about 5 minutes prior to the accident. The right seat instructor pilot reported in the recommendations section of the pilot report that you should never reduce the power on a two-stroke engine. The right seat instructor also said that the left seat student pilot, who had all the time in the airplane, should have instructed him not to do the power reduction. Post accident inspection of the engine did not disclose any pre-accident anomalies with the engine. A Federal Aviation Inspector reported that the rear cylinder of this model engine will seize if the engine is throttled back in flight. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N9148Y](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N9148Y-2018-01-29), registration cancelled 2018-01-29, S/N 06950619, built 1995 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Rans S-12 XL (Airaile) - Registry model: [Adams Richard E S-12 XL AIRAILE](https://openairdocs.org/model/adams-richard-e-s-12-xl-airaile) (registry code 05625I2) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Rotax 582SER](https://openairdocs.org/engine/rotax-582ser) (registry code 55556, 2 cycle) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane, amateur-built - Serial number: 06950619 - Airframe hours: 262 - Engines: Rotax 53 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Instructional, Part 91 - Airworthiness certificate: Special, Experimental (Special) - Last inspection: Continuous airworthiness, May 4, 2008 - Departed: 8J0, Pelion, SC - Destination: 6J0, PELION, SC - Airport: 6J0, Lexington County Airport, runway 35, 4,335 × 60 ft, asphalt ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Flight instructor; age 59; injuries: serious; flight instructor, commercial, private; airplane ratings: multi-engine land; medical: class 2, with waivers/limitations; last flight review October 15, 2008; seat: right; flight hours: 4,500 total ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 260° at 8 knots - Visibility: 9 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 6,000 ft broken - Temperature: 81 °F, dew point 54 °F - Altimeter: 29.96 inHg - Observed at: KCAE, 11 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 (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20080504837429A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20080504837429A), May 4, 2008: Amtr RANSS12AIRLE, Pelion, SC, Substantial damage. (-23) The engine stopped running at 1100 feet while on base leg to the Pelion airport, SC (6JO). The pilot elected to try and make the airport rather then land… ## Docket (1 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 9, 2010, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=68232. 622 KB in all. - Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 (item 1, .PDF, 622 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40310938&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Pilot%2FOperator%20Aircraft%20Accident%20Report,%20NTSB%20Form%206120.1-Master.PDF From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.