- Date
- July 4, 1998, 12:08 local (17:08 UTC)
- Place
- Santa Fe, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N106BKKeith Team Mini MAX 1600R
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 11, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980704015669A
- Case key
- 43162
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 loss of engine power as result of the failure of the cooling fan belt. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the pilot to execute the forced landing.
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 was en route and approximately 7 miles from his destination airport, when he observed 'a rise in the cylinder head temperature of the number 1 cylinder.' He attempted to control the temperature by 'coming completely out of the throttle and then going back to full throttle.' At 1,200 feet AGL, the Rotax 503 engine lost power. The pilot stated that he immediately 'put the plane into the best glide rate' and landed the aircraft in a field 'without problems.' During the landing roll, the right wing struck a steel object which was obscured by weeds. Examination of the engine by the owner revealed that the lost of engine power was the result of engine overheating due to the failure of the fan belt to the engine cooling fan.
Factual narrative
On July 4, 1998, at 1208 central daylight time, a Keith Team Mini Max 1600R, experimental airplane, N106BK, was substantially damaged during a forced landing following a loss of engine power while in cruise flight near Santa Fe, Texas. The private pilot, the sole occupant of the homebuilt airplane, was not injured. The aircraft was owned and operated by the pilot under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The personal flight originated from Clover Field (T02) near Houston, Texas, at 1115. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. No flight plan was filed for the flight to Dickenson, Texas.
According to the pilot, he was en route from Clover Field to the Volk Airport, near Dickenson, Texas. Approximately 7 miles from Volk Airport, "a rise in the cylinder head temperature of the number 1 cylinder" was observed. He attempted to control the temperature by "coming completely out of the throttle and then going back to full throttle." At 1,200 feet agl, the Rotax 503 engine "quit running". The pilot stated that he immediately "put the plane into the best glide rate" and landed the aircraft in a field "without problems." During the landing roll, the right wing struck a steel object which was obscured by weeds.
Examination of the engine by the owner revealed that the loss of engine power was the result of engine overheating due to the failure of the fan belt to the engine cooling fan. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the right wing was "destroyed" which rendered the airplane "unrepairable."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N106BK
- Reported as
- Keith Team Mini MAX 1600R (TEAM MINI)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1676P
- Airframe hours
- 130
- Engine
- Rotax 503, 52 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Bobby W. Keith
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- T02 · Houston, TX
- Destination
- NONE · Dickenson, 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
- 44
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 1,200 total · 100 in this make and model · 1,200 as pilot in command · 20 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 0° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 95 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.