- Date
- July 23, 1995, 12:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Akron, CO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N593JNSteinke Early Bird
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 29, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950723019369A
- Case key
- 19510
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 pilot to properly flare the airplane for landing during an emergency landing after takeoff. Factors relating to the accidents were: a malfunction of the side rave valve, an excessively rich fuel mixture, and the high density altitude, which resulted in a partial loss of engine power.
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 pilot said that during takeoff from an en route stop on a cross-country flight, the aircraft felt sluggish after becoming airborne and that the engine failed to produce sufficient power to remain in the air. A forced landing was made which was hard. Reportedly, the aircraft bounced and drifted off the runway, where it touched down, shearing off the main landing gear and nosed over. The aircraft was equipped with a rotory engine. Examination of the rotory engine provided evidence that the pto side rave valve may have stuck shut, limiting maximum RPM. Also, the mixture (which was adjustable on the ground) was set so that the carburetor jetting was too rich for the density altitude. The density altitude at the airport was approximately 7,200 feet at the time of takeoff.
Factual narrative
On July 23, 1995, at 1200 mountain daylight time, a homebuilt Steinke Early Bird homebuilt (2/3 scale Jenny), N593JN, landed hard following a partial power loss on takeoff from Akron, Colorado. The pilot was not injured and the aircraft sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for this personal flight to Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
According to the pilot, the aircraft was sluggish after takeoff and in an interview said the "engine was not developing sufficient power to remain airborne." The pilot stated that he made a hard landing, bounced, and allowed the aircraft to drift off the runway where it touched down breaking off the main landing gear and nosed over.
The engine was removed and sent to Northland Recreational Products, Phillips, Wisconsin, for examination. According to the attached examination report provided by that facility, there were several problems noted with the engine which would account for the partial power loss. Item number 2 reported a PTO side rave valve possibly being stuck shut. This may have caused maximum rpm to be limited. Item number 3 reported a problem with an overly rich mixture. This problem would be exacerbated by density altitude which was approximately 7,200 feet above mean sea level at the Akron Airport.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N593JN
- Reported as
- Steinke Early Bird
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 000113
- Airframe hours
- 45
- Engine
- Rotax 583, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Gary H. Steinke
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 26, 1994 · 45 hours before
- Departed
- AKO · CO
- Destination
- 42V · Benkelman, NE
- Airport
- AKO · Washington County, runway 29, 7,000 × 100 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
- 53
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 109 total · 45 in this make and model · 58 as pilot in command · 31 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- AKO, 1 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.
Other investigations on N593JN · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.