# NTSB MIA02LA110: Harrison Pietenpol Air Camper, N7224X, Bainbridge, GA, June 13, 2002 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Fatal · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: June 13, 2002, 18:45 local (23:45 UTC) - Place: Bainbridge, GA - Coordinates: 30.999721, -84.506111 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=30.9997&lon=-84.5061&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Enroute](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/400) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: Fatal - Injuries: 1 fatal, 1 serious - Status: Completed, report January 16, 2003 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Parties: FAA - NTSB case key (mKey): 54933 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=MIA02LA110 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/54933/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=54933 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/MIA02LA110 ## Probable cause a loss of power due to the passenger's inadvertent deactivation and restricting the movement of the throttle, which resulted in a forced landing and subsequent impact with trees. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Loss of engine power, climb - control interference - inadvertent deactivation, passenger - throttle/power lever,linkage - movement restricted - Forced landing, descent - uncontrolled - In flight collision with object, descent - uncontrolled - object - tree(s) ## Analysis Shortly after takeoff and climb, at an altitude of about 300 feet, the pilot noticed the passenger in the front seat turn around in his seat to look backwards, and almost simultaneously the throttle came to idle and would not respond. The pilot said that it appeared that the front seat passenger had "...apparently used the connecting throttle linkage for a hand hold and broke or disconnected it" from the seat in the rear cockpit. With no power and almost at stall speed the pilot leveled off and crashed straight ahead into a wooded area. During the examination of the wreckage, it could not be ascertained whether the throttle was jammed or disconnected, due to impact damage, and the demolished condition of the airplane. ## Factual narrative On June 13, 2002, about 1845 central daylight time, a homebuilt Harrison Pietenpol Air Camper, N7224X, operated by and registered to an individual, impacted with the ground just after takeoff from a private airstrip near Bainbridge, Georgia. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight. The airplane was destroyed. The non-rated pilot reported serious injuries. One passenger was fatally injured. The local flight had originated from a private airstrip near Bainbridge, at 1844. Witnesses reported hearing the engine sputter and then saw the airplane nose into the ground. The pilot stated that takeoff and climb were "normal." At an altitude of about 300 feet he noticed the passenger in the front seat "squirm around" in his seat to look backwards. At that time the pilot noticed that the throttle came to "idle" and "would not respond." The pilot said that it appeared that the front seat passenger had "apparently used the connecting throttle linkage for a hand hold and broke or disconnected it" from the seat in the rear cockpit. With "no" power and the airplane almost at stall speed the pilot leveled off the airplane, and "crash straight ahead into the woods." The airplane impacted in a heavily wooded and swampy area, less than 1/2 mile from the takeoff point. According to the FAA inspector's statement, the pilot was interviewed via telephone several times during the first and second weeks of August 2002, after his hospital and recuperative period. The pilot said that his takeoff was good, but at one point during the take-off, left bank procedure, he saw the passenger turn around looking toward the rear of the aircraft, and he could not activate the throttle during the left bank procedure. His only alternative at that time was fly the aircraft to the best of his ability. In an interview with the pilot's cousin, who was at the grass strip, and a witness to the accident, said he heard the airplane's engine power reduce to idle, fly a short distance, and then disappear from view. He immediately dispatched to where he thought the airplane went down, found the airplane, and the pilot adjacent to a creek in a swampy area. The pilot was sitting up next to a tree near a creek. The pilot's cousin further stated that the pilot said to him upon arrival at the scene, "the throttles were somehow jammed, and he could not get the throttle to move." During the examination of the wreckage, it could not be ascertained whether the throttle was jammed or disconnected, due to impact damage, and the demolished condition of the airplane. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N7224X](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N7224X-2002-12-19), registration cancelled 2002-12-19, S/N 003 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Harrison Pietenpol Air Camper - Registry model: [Harrison Larry D PIETENPOL AIR CAMPER](https://openairdocs.org/model/harrison-larry-d-pietenpol-air-camper) (registry code 05605DB) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane, amateur-built - Serial number: 003 - Airframe hours: 239.3 - Engines: General Motors L4, 2.0 liter 65 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Destroyed - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Registered owner: Larry D. Harrison - Airworthiness certificate: Special, Experimental (Special) - Last inspection: Annual, December 16, 2001, 25.2 hours before - Departed: NONE, Bainbridge, GA - Airport: NONE, Climax Airstrip, runway 090, 1,800 × 120 ft, grass/turf ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 67; injuries: serious; seat: rear; flight hours: 1,106 total, 239 in this make and model, 25 in the last 90 days, 2 in the last 30 days, 1 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 0° at 0 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 91 °F, dew point 64 °F - Altimeter: 29.79 inHg - Observed at: KABY, 41 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 (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20020613023439A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20020613023439A), Jun 13, 2002: Amtr PIETENPOLAIR, Bainbridge, GA, Substantial damage, 1 fatal. (-23) According to the pilot statement he took a neighbor on an aerial flight. The pilot stated, he headed east and climbed normally, up to about 300 feet in a… ## Docket (3 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 6, 2002, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=54933. 349 KB in all. - Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 (item 1, .PDF, 253 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40445572&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Pilot%2FOperator%20Aircraft%20Accident%20Report,%20NTSB%20Form%206120.1-Redacted.PDF - Supplement S (item 2, .PDF, 54 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40170088&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Supplement%20S-Master.PDF - Reports from Federal Agencies (item 3, .PDF, 43 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40445573&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Reports%20from%20Federal%20Agencies-Redacted.PDF From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.