- Date
- August 20, 1993, 17:10 local (Aug 21, 1993, 00:10 UTC)
- Place
- Waterville, WA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N456KKope Zenith CH200
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 1, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930820029909A
- Case key
- 41770
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
A short in the electrical wiring to the fuel pump.
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 in the homebuilt aircraft, the engine lost power. The pilot initiated a forced landing to an open field. During the landing roll, the airplane collided with the terrain. The pilot later reported that there was an apparent short in the wiring to the fuel pump.
Factual narrative
On August 20, 1993, at 1710 hours Pacific daylight time, a homebuilt Ray D. Kope, Zenith CH 200, N456K, lost engine power shortly after take off from Waterville, Washington. The pilot initiated a forced landing to an open field. During the landing roll, the airplane was substantially damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The pilot was seriously injured.
The pilot stated that the airplane had accumulated approximately 41 hours since it was completed and no problems were reported during the test flights.
In the pilot's written statement, he reported that "there was an apparent short in the wiring to the fuel pump." No other malfunctions were reported.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N456K
- Reported as
- Kope Zenith CH200 (ZENITH CH2)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- A124
- Airframe hours
- 41
- Engine
- Franklin 6A4-150-B3, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Kope, Ray D.
- Registered owner
- Kope, Ray D.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · August 17, 1993
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
- 60
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 660 total · 40 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.