- Date
- June 14, 1996, 07:30 local (11:30 UTC)
- Place
- Kalamazoo, MI
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N96RMMitchell T Champabria
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 30, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960614016629A
- Case key
- 10281
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's improper positioning of the throttle, while hand propping the aircraft engine, and his failure to either obtain proper assistance or properly secure the airplane.
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 accident occurred while the pilot was hand propping the engine after it had flooded. The magnetos were on and the throttle was open. The engine started, and the airplane traveled (unoccupied) into a garage type building on the airstrip.
Factual narrative
On June 14, 1996, at 0730 eastern daylight time, a Mitchell T Champabria, N96RM, collided with a building and a vehicle while being hand propped in preparation for takeoff at the Austin Lake Airport, Kalamazoo, Michigan. There was no one in the airplane at the time of the collision. The pilot who was outside the airplane hand propping it received serious injuries. The airplane was substantially damaged. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.
The pilot reported that he flooded the engine during the initial starting attempt. He was hand propping the engine with the magnetos on and the throttle open. The engine started and the airplane traveled into the side of a garage type building on the airstrip. The airplane reportedly damaged a vehicle which was parked inside the building.
The pilot reported on NTSB Form 6120.1/2, that he should have closed the throttle before hand propping the engine.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N96RM
- Reported as
- Mitchell T Champabria (T CHAMPABR)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 001
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-C1B, 115 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ronald L. Mitchell
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- 09C
- Destination
- 09C
- Airport
- 09C · Austin Lake
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
- 45
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 879 total · 32 in this make and model · 832 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.