Sunday, June 08, 2014

Powell P-70 Acey Deucy, Brining Air LLC, N567CM: Fatal accident occurred June 08, 2014 in Great Bend, Kansas

National Transportation Safety Board - Aviation Accident Final Report: http://app.ntsb.gov/pdf

National Transportation Safety Board  - Docket And Docket Items:   http://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms

National Transportation Safety Board - Aviation Accident Data Summary:   http://app.ntsb.gov/pdf

NTSB Identification: CEN14FA288
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, June 08, 2014 in Great Bend, KS
Probable Cause Approval Date: 08/16/2016
Aircraft: SCHRIEBER ROBERT L P 70, registration: N567CM
Injuries: 2 Fatal.

NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

The private pilot was conducting a local personal flight. An employee of the fixed-based operator reported that, before takeoff, the pilot topped off the airplane's 18-gallon fuel tank. A witness reported hearing the airplane approach his residence from the north about 2 hours later. The witness said he saw the airplane come out of a cloud bank and that it looked like it was trying to climb at a 45-degree angle. He subsequently saw it in a 45-degree, nose-down pitch angle descending toward the ground. The airplane impacted in a corn field located 6 miles north of pilot's home airport. The witness said the engine sounded "weak as if it had no power" and that, as the airplane was descending, the pilot "was trying to pull up."

An examination of the airplane at the accident site showed that the airplane impacted the ground in a nose-down, steep descent. Flight control continuity was confirmed. Both of the propeller blades were broken at the hub and showed no signs of driving power. An examination of the engine revealed no anomalies that would have prevented it from producing power.

The airplane's fuel tank could hold 18.06 gallons of fuel. The engine manufacturer estimated that the engine's fuel consumption rate at a normal power setting was between 10.5 and 11 gallons per hour; therefore, the airplane would have been able to fly for 1 hour 42 minutes. It is likely that the pilot did not properly plan for the flight, which was longer than allowed by the airplane's total fuel quantity and resulted in loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. During the subsequent forced landing to the field, the pilot lost airplane control.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The pilot's improper preflight planning, which led to a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's loss of airplane control during the forced landing.

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On June 8, 2014, about 1130 central daylight time, a Robert L. Schrieber P70 Acey Deucy experimental amateur-built airplane, N567CM, owned and operated by Brining Air LLC and being flown by a private pilot, impacted terrain near Great Bend, Kansas. The private pilot and passenger on board sustained fatal injuries and the airplane was substantially damaged. The local, personal flight was being conducted without a flight plan under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed in the vicinity of the accident. The flight originated at the Great Bend Municipal Airport (GBD), Great Bend, Kansas about 0930.

A line worker for the Fixed Base Operator (FBO) on the airport said she received a call from the pilot at 0846 requesting fuel for the airplane. She drove the fuel truck to the pilot's hangar and put in 4.7 gallons of fuel, which topped the tank. She said the pilot was in a "cheery, joking" mood. She didn't ask where the pilot was going as the ceiling was 800 feet and she didn't think he would be going very far. Later, at the FBO, the line worker received a radio call from the pilot asking to put him on the maintenance list to change his right tire, that as he was taxiing out he noticed he had a small area of chords showing. She told him they had the tire in stock and would put him on the list. He then made a departure call over the radio frequency that he was departing GBD.

According to the pilot's family, the pilot sent a text message at 1004 stating that he and the passenger had arrived in Lucas, Kansas, about 46 nm north-northeast of GBD. The pilot's wife received another text message at 1013 stating the pilot wanted to meet for lunch after church. At 1223, she texted the pilot about their meeting for lunch and received no response.

A witness reported about 1130 hearing an airplane north of him. He stepped out of the shed he was cleaning at the time and saw the airplane about a mile to his east flying at 200 to 300 ft above the ground. It had come out of a cloud bank and looked as if the airplane was trying to climb at a 45 degree angle. The witness said he thought nothing of it and went back to work. As he heard the airplane get closer to his house, he went out to see it fly over. As he looked for the airplane, he saw it in a 45-degree nose down pitch angle descending and impacting the ground. He immediately called 9-1-1. The witness said the engine sounded "weak as if it had no power" and that as the airplane was descending the pilot "was trying to pull up."

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

The pilot, age 49, held a private pilot certificate with an airplane single-engine land and instrument airplane ratings. According to the pilot's flight logs he had 1,528 total flying hours and 153 hours in the accident airplane. He had flown 30 hours in the 90 days preceding the accident; 22 of those hours being flown in the 30 days prior to the accident.

The pilot held a valid second-class medical certificate dated October 11, 2012. The certificate showed the limitation, Must wear corrective lenses.

The pilot successfully completed a flight review on February 4, 2013.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

The amateur-built, tandem two-place, high wing, single-engine airplane, serial number 045, was originally certificated in the experimental category by the original owner in 1997. It was registered to the owner on June 8, 2010.

The airplane was powered by one Lycoming O-290-G carbureted; 4-cylinder horizontally opposed reciprocating engine, rated at 125 horsepower at 2,450 rpm. According to the manufacturer, the estimated fuel consumption of the engine at a normal cruise power setting was between 10.5 to 11 gallons per hour.

A review of the available engine logbooks showed the airplane had completed an annual condition inspection on May 2, 2009. The tachometer time at the inspection was 392.8 hours. Other logbooks that might have contained the airplane's most recent condition inspection were not located.

The tachometer time on the airplane at the accident site was 492.64 hours.

METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION

At 1135, the automated weather observation facility at GBD, located 6 miles south from the accident location, reported wind from 120 degrees at 8 knots, overcast clouds at 1,200 ft, visibility 9 miles, temperature 64 degrees Fahrenheit (F), dew point 57 degrees F, and altimeter 30.06 inches of mercury.

WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION

The airplane impacted in a windrowed corn stubble field about 6 miles north of the GBD. The accident site began with a 16-inch deep impact scar. Impressions in the ground that emanated out from the deepest part of the impact scar corresponded to impacts from the airplane's top wing and main landing gear. Pieces of the airplane's wing, cowling, and forward fuselage were located in the impact scar. Airplane pieces spanned outward from the impact scar about 122 feet to the airplane main wreckage.

The airplane main wreckage consisted of the top wing, the tandem cockpit area, main landing gear, engine, propeller, aft fuselage, empennage, and tailwheel. The airplane rested upright and was oriented 160 degrees from the initial impact scar. The top wing was broken at the wing struts and crushed aft. The ailerons remained attached. The cowling and cockpit area were broken downward and aft. The main landing gear were bent and broken aft. The engine was broken downward and aft. A fuel tank behind the engine was crushed and broken. No physical signs or smell of fuel were present. Both blades of the two-bladed wood propeller were broken aft and showed no signs of rotational rubs or scratches. The front and rear seat windscreens were broken out and fragmented. The fuselage aft of the rear cockpit seat, empennage, and tailwheel were intact.

Flight control continuity was confirmed. The engine and fuel tank were retained for further examination.

MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION

An autopsy was performed on the pilot on June 8, 2014, by the Barton County, Kansas Coroner, at Hays, Kansas.

The FAA's Civil Aerospace Medical Institute performed forensic toxicology on specimens from the pilot. The results were negative for all tests conducted.

TESTS AND RESEARCH

An examination of the engine revealed no anomalies that would have prevented the engine from producing power. A reconstruction of the metal fuel tank confirmed airplane drawings that showed the fuel tank's volume as 4,172 cubic inches, therefore capable of holding 18.06 gallons of fuel. Based on the engine's fuel consumption rate of 10.5 gallons per hour, the airplane would have been able to fly for 1 hour and 42 minutes.

http://registry.faa.gov/N567CM


NTSB Identification: CEN14FA288
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, June 08, 2014 in Great Bend, KS
Aircraft: SCHRIEBER ROBERT L P 70, registration: N567CM
Injuries: 2 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

On June 8, 2014, about 1130 central daylight time, am experimental P70 airplane, N567CM, registered to Brining Air LLC, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain in the vicinity of Great Bend, Kansas. The private pilot and one passenger sustained fatal injuries. The local personal flight was being conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed in the vicinity of the accident.

A witness saw the airplane approach over a plowed field and he thought that the airplane was going to land when the nose pitched upward. The airplane then descended rapidly to the ground.

Courtesy photo
An undated photo of pilot Roger Brining.


Friends remember Roger Brining, one of two people who passed away in a plane wreck Sunday afternoon in Barton County, as a prominent and active member of the community. He was a farmer, former computer store and Internet service owner, Air Force veteran, and pilot. The other victim of the accident was 24-year-old Daniel Bishop of Clearfield, Utah, who was described as the boyfriend of Brining’s daughter, Rebecca Brining.

“Roger was very active at the Great Bend Municipal Airport, and was an enthusiastic supporter of all the airport’s activities and events,” said friend Martin Miller, Great Bend airport manager. “He was serving on the Airport Advisory Committee for the City of Great Bend, and was a past president of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Chapter 1134 based at the airport. He always demonstrated a positive attitude towards this airport and its operations, and contributed both time and money to broaden interest in aviation, the historical impact of the airport on the community. He never hesitated to volunteer when it came to exposing others to the experience of flying.”

The 1997 kit built aircraft crashed at 11:33 a.m. Sunday near the Boyd Blacktop in a corn stubble field, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol Master Trooper James Robinson. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.

The single-engine aircraft departed from the Great Bend airport. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Tony Molinaro said the FAA will gather information and report to the National Transportation Safety Board, which is responsible for releasing information to the public. A preliminary report usually takes about a week, with a detailed factual report typically coming weeks later.

Records show the two-seat LP-70 airplane was manufactured by Robert Schrieber. It was one of four private planes in Great Bend registered to Brining Air LLC.
Robinson said there was an eyewitness to the crash. The aircraft was flying south following NW 30 Ave. at 200-300 feet angling upward to gain altitude. The eyewitness said he heard the aircraft coming toward him and then a few moments later, it crashed.

The cause of the crash has not been determined.

It marks the third fatal plane crash in four months that involved area residents.

The two other plane crashes that have occurred in the past four months include Glenn and Elaine Mull, daughter Amy Harter and granddaughter Sami Harter. They were flying to Tennessee in  a twin-engine Gulfstream Commander 690C aircraft that crashed Feb. 3. The pilot, Glenn Mull, was the owner of Mid-Kansas Agri Co. and Mull’s Farms and Feeding, a feed yard near Pawnee Rock.

On April 22, Barton County Commissioner Don Cates died piloting an agricultural plane near Garfield.

Brining, 49, was remembered Monday morning is the prayer before the Barton County Commission meeting, offered by commissioner Don Davis. Jan Peters, president of the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce & Economic Development, also commented on the loss when she delivered a report to the commission later that morning. “Three times in four months ... this is just so sad,” she said. Brining’s widow Erika is on the chamber’s board of directors, and another daughter, Rachel Mawhirter is marketing director at the chamber.

Brining’s obituary appears on the Great Bend Tribune website.








 GREAT BEND, Kan. - Kansas highway patrol says two men died on impact, after a plane crash near Great Bend Sunday.

The victims have been identified as 49-year-old Roger Brining and 24-year-old Daniel Bishop.

"He will be missed, just his presence here at the airport and his energy," said Brining's friend Chrissy Genova. "Roger was a big aviation junkie, he loved people and everything with aviation."

The NTSB said the experimental plane was a Powell P-70 Acey Deucy, it crashed shortly after take off in a field near Great Bend.

Kansas Highway Patrol said the crash happened around 11:30 a.m. Sunday morning near the intersection of NW 40 Rd and NW 30 Ave in Barton Co.

"The witness reported seeing the aircraft following what he believed was Boyd blacktop, which is also NW 30 Ave, about 200 to 300 feet above the ground," said Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper James Robinson. "H turned around to see the aircraft coming directly towards where he lives and in a few moments the plane went down in the field."

The FAA and NTSB are investigating the cause of the crash.

 
GREAT BEND, Kansas – A small plane crashed in Barton County Sunday morning.

Kansas Highway Patrol reports that two people died when the single-engine plane went down around 11:30 a.m.

The Powell P-70 Acey Deucy crashed in a field near the intersection of NW 40 Road and NW 30 Avenue just north of Great Bend.

The victims have been identified as 49-year-old Roger Brining and 24-year-old Daniel Bishop.

The Federal Aviation Administration  has been notified. There is no word yet on what caused the plane to crash.