- Date
- August 20, 1989, 20:00 local (Aug 21, 1989, 01:00 UTC)
- Place
- Carlisle, MN
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N812SSDormoy TKD Bathtub
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 18, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890821030829A
- Case key
- 34852
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
Failure of the mixture control cable and inadequate maintenance (repair) by the pilot. The terrain conditions were considered to be contributing factors.
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 plt said that during flt, the eng of the home built acft lost power over rough terrain. During an emergency landing, the acft encountered tall grass, rocks, gopher mounds & downward sloping terrain, and was damaged. An investigation revealed the mixture control cable (piano wire) had failed at a bolt where it attached to the mixture control lever. This was the 2nd failure during the flt from fargo, ND to fergus falls, MN. The 1st failure occurred about 15 to 20 min into the flt. The plt made a successful forced landing after the 1st failure, then borrowed some tools & repaired the cable. The 2nd failure occurred about 10 to 15 min after he took off to continue the flt.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N812SS
- Reported as
- Dormoy TKD Bathtub (TKD BATHTU)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1
- Airframe hours
- 122
- Engine
- Franklin 2A-120-B, 60 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Thompson, Harrison C.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 23, 1989 · 12 hours before
- Departed
- FAR · Fargo, ND
- Destination
- FFM · Fergus Falls, MN
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
- 46
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 2,400 total · 122 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FFM, 10 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.