- Date
- July 6, 1983, 19:50 local (Jul 7, 1983, 00:50 UTC)
- Place
- Denver, IA
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N407LSteen Skybolt
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830706031949A
- Case key
- 33437
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 stated that on departure when the aircraft was 100 to 150 feet above the ground, the engine quit. He made a left turn toward more suitable terrain and the engine started up again. Before he could get set up for a more suitable field, the engine quit again. The aircraft landed just short of a road, hit a ditch and flipped forward to the inverted position. An inspection of the wreckage found that the fuel tank vent port in the top of the tank had been partially blocked during construction. The remainder of the wreckage did not appear to have any pre-impact damage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N407L
- Reported as
- Steen Skybolt
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1001
- Airframe hours
- 4
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Gary James Westendorf
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Airport
- K45 · K, runway 18, 2,600 × 160 ft, grass/turf
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
- 52
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 3,060 total · 6 in this make and model · 3,000 as pilot in command · 36 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.