- Date
- June 24, 1995, 13:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Palmer, MA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N88856Pincince Corbin Baby ACE
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 27, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950624032879A
- Case key
- 39018
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
contamination in the carburetor which resulted in fuel starvation, a total loss of engine power and forced landing.
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 airplane had taken off and reached an altitude of approximately 15 feet above the runway. The pilot stated, 'The engine stopped abruptly and completely.' The airplane then 'dropped in rather hard' with the left main landing gear on soft ground and the right main on runway pavement, resulting in a ground loop to the left. The airplane then went down an embankment, and nosed over. An examination of the carburetor revealed that there were contaminants in the bowl and the needle valve tip was worn. The airplane was operated 0.5 hours since the last annual inspection.
Factual narrative
On June 24, 1995, about 1300 eastern daylight time, a Pincince, Corbin Baby Ace, an experimental, homebuilt airplane, N88856, nosed over after a forced landing at the Palmer Airport, Palmer, Massachusetts. The airplane was substantially damaged, and the private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The local, personal flight was being conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
During a routine surveillance on July 26, 1995, the FAA observed the wreckage in a hanger. The FAA Inspector learned that the accident had not been reported. The FAA contacted the pilot/owner, who provided the information about the accident.
The airplane had taken off, from runway 22, reached an altitude of approximately 15 feet above the runway, and according to the pilot, "the engine stopped abruptly and completely."
The pilot stated on the NTSB Form 6120.1/2:
Automatic reaction resulted in decreasing the angle of attack. None-the-less, the Baby Ace dropped-in rather hard with the left main on soft ground and the right main on runway pavement, resulting in a ground loop to the left and then down an embankment...at that point the plane nosed over...
According to the pilot, examination of the carburetor revealed that there was "...foreign matter in [the] bowl; [and the] needle valve-needle tip [was] worn"
At the time of the accident the pilot reported that the winds were from the southwest, at 5 knots. The visibility was 10 miles.
The pilot indicated on the NTSB Form 6120.1/2 that he had a total of 933.7 flight hours, with .5 hours in this make and model airplane.
The time on the airplane since the annual inspection was .5 of an hour.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N88856
- Reported as
- Pincince Corbin Baby ACE (CORBIN BAB)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- NP-1
- Engine
- Continental A-65-8, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Norman T. Pincince
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Airport
- PMX · Palmer Municipal, runway 22, 2,300 × 75 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
- 71
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 934 total · 1 in this make and model · 867 as pilot in command · 20 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 225° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.