- Date
- August 21, 2008, 08:00 local (13:00 UTC)
- Place
- Odessa, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N1002WMurray Frank H DA5B
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Powerplant sys/comp malf/fail
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 22, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20080821842999A
- Case key
- 68758
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
Failure of the intake manifold when the flexible connectors disconnected from the carburetor after a turbulence encounter. Contributing to the accident was insuitable terrain for a forced landing.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot departed on a 42-nautical-mile cross-country flight in his homebuilt single-place experimental aircraft and was in cruise flight when he encountered turbulence and the engine quit. The pilot reported that he encountered rough air at his cruise altitude of 4000 feet and decided to descend to 3800 feet for smoother air. As he began the descent the engine began to run rough and then quit. During the forced landing the airplane struck a fence and trees. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings, landing gear, and empannage. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector, during an on scene investigation, found that the carburetor had separated from the intake manifold at the flexible rubber couplings.
Factual narrative
The pilot departed on a 42 nautical mile cross country flight in his homebuilt single place experimental aircraft and was in cruise flight when he encountered turbulence and the engine quit. The pilot reported that he encountered rough air at his cruise altitude of 4000 feet and decided to descend to 3800 feet for smoother air. As he began the descent the engine began to run rough and then quit. During the forced landing the airplane struck a fence and mesquite trees. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings, landing gear, and empannage. A Federal Aviation Administration Inspector, during an on scene investigation, found the carburetor had separated from the intake manifold at the flexible rubber couplings.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1002W
- Reported as
- Murray Frank H DA5B
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 06
- Airframe hours
- 53
- Engine
- Volkswagen CONVERSION, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 30, 2008 · 6 hours before
- Departed
- KODO · Odessa, TX
- Destination
- E01 · Monahans, TX
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
- 80
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Last flight review
- January 20, 2008
- Seat
- Single
- Flight hours
- 150 total · 53 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.96 inHg
- Observed at
- KODO
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N1002W · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.