FAA IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 396BK Make/Model: EXP Description: KITFOX IV
Date: 07/31/2012 Time: 1900
Event Type: Incident Highest Injury: None Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Unknown
LOCATION
City: FARMINGTON State: MN Country: US
DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT FORCE LANDED IN A FIELD AND CAUGHT FIRE, NEAR FARMINGTON, CASTLE
ROCK TOWNSHIP, MN
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 0
# Crew: 1 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: 1
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase: Unknown Operation: OTHER
FAA FSDO: MINNEAPOLIS, MN (GL15) Entry date: 08/01/2012
Pilot Benny Harris Svien talks to sheriff Dave Bellows after crashing his plane in a Castle Rock corn field.
Pilot Benny Harris Svien of Northfield walked away from his 2002 Kit Fox two-seater airplane after it crashed into a Castle Rock Township cornfield Tuesday, July 31.
Svien, 61, was walking around and talking to Dakota County sheriff’s deputies and paramedics following the crash, which occurred around 2 p.m. near the intersection of 280th Street and Highway 3. A county deputy accompanied Svien to Northfield Hospital, where he was going to get stitches for a cut received in the crash.
Dakota County sheriff Dave Bellows marveled at Svien’s piloting abilities.
“More often than not, you have pretty serious injuries or fatalities in these situations,” Bellows said. “I give a lot of credit to the pilot.”
According to Bellows, Svien was bringing his experimental aircraft in for a landing when the accident occurred. He was going to land on a runway on his property, but had to make adjustments in his landing. When he powered up and started to climb the aircraft back into the sky, he started to have problems. He was flying at about 1,700 feet when the problems started. Svien was able to take the plane down most of the way before it crashed into the cornfield.
Svien got out of the plane and ran through the cornfield to a nearby farm, where he reported the incident. By the time the Farmington Fire Department arrived, the aircraft was engulfed in fire. FFD sent firefighters on one of its brush trucks to extinguish the fire.
The plane is a complete loss, Bellows said.
“The pilot is very fortunate. He had a malfunction and it took a lot of piloting skills to land without getting injured. You don’t have a lot of time to pick a landing spot when you’re coming down that fast,” Bellows said.
Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were called to the scene, which is typical in plane crashes, Bellows said. The plane will be removed after the FAA and NTSB finish their investigations.
http://www.farmingtonindependent.com
Previous Accident - June 2010:
NTSB Identification: CEN10CA304
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, June 07, 2010 in Stanton, MN
Probable Cause Approval Date: 12/20/2010
Aircraft: Bordelon Kitfox IV, registration: N396BK
Injuries: 1 Uninjured.
The accident occurred during the first flight since the experimental amateur-built airplane had been repaired from a previous accident. The pilot stated that after departure he performed two landings without incident. On the third landing attempt, the in-flight electrically adjustable propeller went into a low/flat pitch while the airplane was on an extended final approach. The pilot stated that the airplane lost forward thrust as result of the flat propeller blade pitch and that he landed short of the turf runway. The airplane subsequently nosed over and came to rest inverted; the fuselage and empennage were substantially damaged. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane. He stated that the flat propeller pitch may have been inadvertently set during flight when he mistakenly depressed the propeller pitch selector instead of the intended push-to-talk button. Both buttons were collocated on the control stick.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The pilot’s inadvertent propeller blade pitch change and subsequent loss of forward thrust.
Pilot Benny Harris Svien of Northfield walked away from his 2002 Kit Fox two-seater airplane after it crashed into a Castle Rock Township cornfield Tuesday afternoon.
Svien, 61, was walking around and talking to Dakota County sheriff’s deputies and paramedics following the crash, which occurred around 2 p.m. near the intersection of 280th Street and Highway 3. A county deputy accompanied Svien to Northfield Hospital, where he was going to get stitches for a cut received in the crash.
Dakota County sheriff Dave Bellows marveled at Svien’s piloting abilities.
“More often than not, you have pretty serious injuries or fatalities in these situations,” Bellows said. “I give a lot of credit to the pilot.”
According to Bellows, Svien was bringing his experimental aircraft in for a landing when the accident occurred. He was going to land on a runway on his property, but had to make adjustments in his landing. When he powered up and started to climb the aircraft back into the sky, he started to have problems. He was flying at about 1,700 feet when the problems started. Svien was able to take the plane down most of the way before it crashed into the cornfield.
Svien got out of the plane and ran through the cornfield to a nearby farm, where he reported the incident. By the time the Farmington Fire Department arrived, the aircraft was engulfed in fire. FFD sent firefighters on one of its brush trucks to extinguish the fire.
The plane is a complete loss, Bellows said.
“The pilot is very fortunate. He had a malfunction and it took a lot of piloting skills to land without getting injured. You don’t have a lot of time to pick a landing spot when you’re coming down that fast,” Bellows said.
Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were called to the scene, which is typical in plane crashes, Bellows said. The plane will be removed after the FAA and NTSB finish their investigations.
http://northfield.patch.com/northfield-pilot-crashes-plane-makes-it-out-alive
http://www.twincities.com/dakota-county-northfield-man-survives-crash-experimental-aircraft
http://www.farmingtonindependent.com
Press release on plane crash
The pilot of a small single-engine aircraft escaped with minor injuries after crashing his plane following an aborted landing on Tuesday afternoon. According to Dakota County Sheriff Dave Bellows,
the pilot was flying back to his home after a brief flight when he attempted to land on the runway located on his property. After attempting to land he powered the aircraft, but began to experience mechanical problems with the plane’s rudder at approximately 1,700 feet. After crashing into a cornfield, the plane caught on fire. The pilot was able to get out of the plane, sustaining only minor cuts to his neck.
The pilot has been identified as Benny Harris Svien, 61 years old, of Northfield. The plane, a 2002 Kit Fox classified as an experimental aircraft, was destroyed in the crash. The crash was reported to the Dakota Communications Center at 2:00 p.m.
In addition to the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office, the Farmington Police and Fire Departments also responded to the scene. They were joined by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The crash occurred in a cornfield approximately one-half mile north of County Road 86 and east of Highway 3. The plane is located approximately one-eighth mile into the cornfield.
