- Date
- October 2, 2004, 11:40 local (18:40 UTC)
- Place
- Coeur d'Alene, ID
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N214JHHiggins Acro-Sport II
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 28, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20041002024109A
- Case key
- 60371
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
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Probable cause
The NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
The airplane's wood propeller separated from the airplane during cruise. A factor was the ditch that the airplane impacted during the landing roll subsequent to the forced landing.
Analysis
The pilot said that while in cruise flight, the wood propeller separated from the airplane. He performed a forced landing, and impacted a small ditch during the roll out. Subsequently, the landing gear separated from the airplane, and the main gear attachment points and the engine firewall were damaged/bent.
Factual narrative
On October 2, 2004, at 1140 Pacific daylight time, a Higgins Acro-Sport II experimental homebuilt, N214JH, was substantially damaged during a forced landing attempt near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. The commercial pilot and his passenger were not injured. The pilot/owner was operating the airplane under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local personal flight that had originated from Homeport Airport (11WA) near Cheney, Washington, approximately 36 minutes before the accident. The pilot had not filed a flight plan.
The pilot said that while in cruise flight, the wood propeller separated from the airplane. He performed a forced landing, and impacted a small ditch during the roll out. Subsequently, the landing gear separated from the airplane, and the main gear attachment points and the engine firewall were damaged/bent. The pilot said that there was approximately 31 hours of flight time on the wood propeller and airplane.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N214JH
- Reported as
- Higgins Acro-Sport II
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 001
- Airframe hours
- 30
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A3B6D, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- James L. Higgins
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · August 4, 2001 · 30 hours before
- Departed
- NONE · Cheney, WA
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
- 66
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- October 28, 2002
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 500 total · 30 in this make and model · 319 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 0° at 0 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.20 inHg
- Observed at
- COE, 12 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.