- Date
- May 21, 1989, 15:06 local (19:06 UTC)
- Place
- Niles, MI
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N305BJBillings/White Avid Flyer
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 25, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890521012309A
- Case key
- 14219
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
Loose carburetor(s) due to improper maintenance/installation, which resulted in fuel starvation and loss of engine power; and failure of the pilot to maintain adequate airspeed while maneuvering for a forced landing, which resulted in an inadvertent stall and subsequent impact with the ground.
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
Witnesses rprtd the acft's eng lost power during a turn onto base leg. The acft was then maneuvered in a 360 deg turn, as if to land in a field. As it was being maneuvered, it entered a steep descent & impacted the ground. A post-acdnt exam revealed that both carburetors were loose. Configuration of the eng required that each carburetor be secured with 2 clamps. Only 3 of the 4 clamps were found despite an extensive search. The home built acft was on its 3rd flt & was being flown from an eaa fly-in by the 2 builders when the acdnt occurred.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N305BJ
- Reported as
- Billings/White Avid Flyer
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 305
- Airframe hours
- 18
- Engine
- Rotax 532, 64 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- J. O. Billings/ C. E. White
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Unknown · September 8, 1988 · 18 hours before
- Departed
- BEH · Benton Harbor, MI
- Airport
- 3TR · Jerry Tyler Memorial, runway 32, 4,100 × 75 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
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 95 total · 15 in this make and model · 57 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 320° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SBN, 8 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.