- Date
- August 16, 1987, 18:20 local (23:20 UTC)
- Place
- Meade, KS
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N900KMaxfield Pitts S-1S
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 11, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870816045819A
- Case key
- 34432
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
Shortly after takeoff, while depg to the se, the eng seized. All of the surrounding terrain consisted of plowed fields, so the plt tried to glide back to the arpt; however, he had insufficient speed & alt to get aligned with the rwy. Drg the lndg, the acft touched down on the shoulder of the rwy & was damaged. An exam of the eng revealed the #3 rod cap & bolts had failed. There was evidence the rod-to-crankshaft bearing had been rotating in the rod & had initiated the failure. The eng had 21 hrs of flt time since it had been overhauled.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N900K
- Reported as
- Maxfield Pitts S-1S
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1JM
- Airframe hours
- 136
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1A, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ed Fleet
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 31, 1987 · 12 hours before
- Airport
- 8K4 · Meade Muni, runway 35, 3,400 × 50 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
- 37
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 306 total · 64 in this make and model · 268 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.