- Date
- October 13, 1988, 12:50 local (17:50 UTC)
- Place
- Dumas, AR
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N34872Culver LFA
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 7, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19881013045659A
- Case key
- 34659
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
A witness stated that the airplane backfired while in a turn at low altitude. He heard it backfire twice more and noticed engine running at idle just before it crashed. When runup, the engine would attain 1900 RPM, then backfire and the RPM would drop to 600 RPM. When the magnetos were replaced, the engine ran without problems. Teardown of magnetos found both distributor block assemblies were excessively corroded and two contacts in each were missing. Both breaker points were worn beyond limits.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N34872
- Reported as
- Culver LFA
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 280
- Airframe hours
- 1,428
- Engine
- Continental C-85-12F, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Dirty Bird Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 3, 1988 · 4 hours before
- Departed
- 71M · Grady, AR
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
- 29
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 846 total · 200 in this make and model · 776 as pilot in command · 18 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LIT, 62 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.