- Date
- June 20, 2011, 10:00 local (14:00 UTC)
- Place
- Carthage, NC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N4209FDotson William P Sngl Seat Hawk Arrow
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern base: Loss of engine power (partial)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 27, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/ FSDO
- FAA report
- 20110620025049A
- Case key
- 80863
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
A partial loss of engine power due to the pilot’s improper installation of the engine’s No. 1 cylinder spark plugs.
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
According to the pilot, during the turn from the base leg to final approach, the engine experienced a partial loss of power. He performed a forced landing into some small trees because he knew he could not glide the airplane to the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wing spars. A postaccident examination revealed that a spark plug was backed out of the No. 1 cylinder and was suspended from the electrode wire. The pilot reported that he had changed the engine spark plugs the day before the accident and that he may have cross-threaded one of them.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot during the turn from the base leg to the final approach the engine experienced a partial loss of power. The airplane impacted a tree causing substantial damage to the wing spars. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the wreckage and noted that one spark plug was found backed out of the No. 1 cylinder and was suspended from the electrode wire. The pilot reported that he had changed the engine spark plugs the day before the accident and that he may have cross-threaded one of the spark plugs.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4209F
- Reported as
- Dotson William P Sngl Seat Hawk Arrow
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- H-SSA-899-R503-TRI
- Airframe hours
- 195
- Engine
- Rotax 503, 50 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 13, 2011 · 25 hours before
- Departed
- 5NC3 · Carthage, NC
- Destination
- 5NC3 · Carthage, NC
- Airport
- 5NC3 · Gilliam McConnell, runway 31, 2,500 × 36 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 53
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Sport pilot
- Seat
- Single
- Flight hours
- 38 total · 5 in this make and model · 7 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.87 inHg
- Observed at
- KSOP, 8 nm away
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 7, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.2 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.