Docket And Docket Items - National Transportation Safety Board: http://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms
National Transportation Safety Board - Aviation Accident Data Summary: http://app.ntsb.gov/pdf
NTSB Identification: ERA15LA311
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Friday, August 14, 2015 in Allentown, PA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 11/19/2015
Aircraft: THOMAS A SIMINSKI ZENITH CH 750, registration: N1750Z
Injuries: 1 Serious.
NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
The pilot reported that, after takeoff, the airplane’s engine lost partial power about 100 ft above ground level and that he then attempted to return to the airport. The pilot further stated that “the engine would not keep me flying and the airplane just fell into the forest.”
During the on-scene examination, the No. 1 spark plug was found missing from the cylinder head but still attached to the ignition lead. The threads were stripped out of the cylinder head. It is likely that the No. 1 spark plug was liberated from the cylinder head due to the stripped threads, which led to the partial loss of engine power.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
A partial loss of engine power due to the No. 1 spark plug being liberated from the cylinder head due to the stripped threads in the cylinder head. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s decision to attempt to return to the airport while at a low altitude.
On August 14, 2015, about 1110 eastern daylight time, an experimental, amateur-built Zenith CH750, N1750Z, was substantially damaged when it impacted trees and terrain shortly after takeoff at Queen City Airport (XLL), Allentown, Pennsylvania. The private pilot was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight, which was operated under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The flight was originating at the time of the accident.
The pilot reported that after takeoff from runway 25, the engine lost partial power about 100 feet above ground level. The pilot further stated that the engine would not keep him flying. He attempted to return back to runway 7, but the airplane impacted trees and a creek bed, resulting in substantial damage to the airframe.
According to the pilot and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records, he held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single-engine land. The pilot reported 328 hours of total flight experience.
The wreckage was examined at the scene by a FAA inspector. The inspector reported that the airplane was submerged, nose down, in about 2 feet of water. About 10 gallons of fuel were recovered from the airplane's fuel tanks. The airplane's airworthiness certificate was issued in 2012, and since that time it had accumulated 75 total flight hours. The inspector found the number 1 spark plug missing from the cylinder head but still attached to the ignition lead.
The pilot's son took several pictures of the spark plug, ignition lead and cylinder head. He verified that the threads were stripped out of the cylinder head, and the threads on the spark plug looked to be in good condition.
The pilot of a small plane that crashed in Allentown on Friday was in critical condition Saturday at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, a spokeswoman said.
Meanwhile, the Lehigh County Authority lifted the water conservation advisory issued Friday after the plane crashed into the Little Lehigh Creek, one of the authority's primary water sources.
Pilot Thomas A. Siminski of Upper Milford crashed the plane nose first into the creek. That resulted in an extended water plant shutdown to avoid drawing contaminants from the crash into the drinking water supply, the authority said in a statement Saturday morning.
While the authority has other water sources available, including springs, wells and the Lehigh River, switching between these sources can take several hours to complete, so customers had been asked to cut back on water use.
By midnight, officials determined that the water supply was no longer at risk and the plant's normal operations were restored.
The plane crash remains under investigation. Siminski, 68, had been listed in stable condition hours after the crash. His aircraft, a 2012 Zenith CH 750, is an experimental, amateur-built plane, according to FAA records.
THOMAS A. SIMINSKI: http://registry.faa.gov/N1750Z
ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Today a pilot and his small plane made a crash landing in an Allentown creek.
Now an investigation is underway to find out what happened.
"In the creek 6 to 8 feet nose down offshore," explained rescue crews.
Officials say the Zenith CH 750 plane crashed into the waist deep water of Allentown's Lil Lehigh creek just after 11 a.m.
"It came down real slow, just came down," explained a witness.
Emergency crews raced to the scene, just off Fish Hatchery Road and were able to extract the pilot from the wreckage within 15 minutes.
"He was banged up, he was in pain but wasn't yelling or anything like that, he was conscious," said Captain John Christopher of the Allentown Fire Department.
FAA records show the plane is registered to Tom Ziminiski of Zionsville, and housed at Allentown's Queen City Airport.
Records also show he built the experimental plane himself. How and why his plane went down is still a mystery.
For park-goers, who flock to the area to fish and walk, it's a scenario that was a little too close for comfort.
"Very easily could have landed on top of our heads," said a couple who often walks their dog feet from where the plane landed.
Pilots who know Ziminski say he is an experienced pilot, and it appears to them the engine stalled. The FAA is investigating.
Source: http://www.wfmz.com
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