Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Zenair STOL CH-701, N701ZG: Accident occurred July 10, 2016 in Dexter, Washtenaw County, Michigan

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

NTSB Identification: CEN16LA264
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, July 10, 2016 in Dexter, MI
Probable Cause Approval Date: 09/06/2017
Aircraft: ALONSO CH 701, registration: N701ZG
Injuries: 1 Uninjured.

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 sport pilot was conducting a personal cross-country flight in the experimental, amateur-built airplane. He reported that, during cruise flight, the engine began running roughly and that he then landed at a nearby airport to examine the engine. The pilot was not able to determine what caused the roughness. He started the engine and performed a run-up, which was normal, so he departed to continue the flight. While en route, the engine again started running roughly and subsequently experienced a total loss of power. The pilot chose to conduct a forced landing in a soybean field, during which he had to lower the pitch altitude to fly under power lines, which resulted in an increase in airspeed and subsequent hard impact in the field. A postaccident examination of the engine revealed no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The weather conditions at the time of the accident were not conducive for the accumulation of carburetor ice at cruise power.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The total loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined because postaccident examination of the engine revealed no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.



The National Transportation Safety Board did not travel to the scene of this accident.

Additional Participating Entity:
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Belleville, Michigan 

Aviation Accident Factual Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf

http://registry.faa.gov/N701ZG

NTSB Identification: CEN16LA264
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, July 10, 2016 in Dexter, MI
Aircraft: ALONSO CH 701, registration: N701ZG
Injuries: 1 Uninjured.

NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

On July 10, 2016, at 1205 eastern daylight time, an Alonso CH 701 airplane, N701ZG, collided with the terrain during an off-airport landing in Dexter, Michigan, following a loss of engine power. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was registered to and operated by a private individual under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which was not operated on a flight plan. The flight originated from Livingston County Spencer J Hardy Airport (OZW), Howell, Michigan about 1150.

The pilot reported he departed from Howard Nixon Memorial Airport (50G), Chesaning, Michigan, and was flying to Ann Arbor Municipal Airport (ARB) when the engine began running rough. He landed at OZW to examine the engine with another pilot who was flying in an accompanying airplane. He stated they were not able to find anything wrong with the engine. The pilot started the engine and performed a run-up which he stated were normal, so he departed OZW to continue the flight to ARB. While en route, the engine once again started running rough and subsequently experienced a total loss of power.

The pilot chose to land in a soybean field. During the forced landing approach, he saw power lines and had to lower the pitch altitude to fly under them. The airplane impacted hard in the soybean field.

A postaccident examination of the airplane and engine was conducted by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector along with an airframe and powerplant mechanic. The examination did not reveal any anomalies that would have resulted in the loss of engine power.

The FAA Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) CE-09-35 "Carburetor Icing Prevention" chart indicated that the temperature and dewpoint, 79° F and 61° F respectively, were conducive for serious icing at glide power, not cruise power.
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A plane landed into a field, in an apparent crash, at the corner of Vaughn and Daly Roads, Sunday, July 10.

The single engine airplane was sticking nose first into the ground two thirds of the way between Vaughn Road and the farm that We Love Dexter has made the decision not to name. It came to an abrupt halt about one third of the way between the farm buildings and Vaughn Road, towards the direction of Daley Pond.

“We are not exactly sure how this happened, but the FAA is investigating,” Washtenaw County Sheriff Director of Communications Derrick Jackson said. “A call came in just after noon on Sunday from a woman saying that she saw a small plane flying very low and heard the engine sputtering. Soon after she heard a loud boom and thought the plane might have crashed. The plane did indeed crash but the pilot was not injured. The plane was removed a short time ago. It was called into us so we are the responding agency.”

Steven Hanes is a supervisory inspector for the Eastern Michigan office of the Flight District Safety Offices component of the Federal Aviation Administration.

“Our office is aware of the aircraft and the incident / accident is being investigated by one of our inspectors. Information received so far indicates that there were no injuries,” Hanes said by email. “If it is determined the there is enough damage to the aircraft to qualify the event as an accident the NTSB will also be involved in the investigation.”

The owners of the property were on scene, but declined to comment.

This apparent crash comes in the middle of a protracted disagreement between local homeowners and a property owner on Gregory Road, who wants to use his land to make a 2,000 foot long sod landing strip on his property for his aircraft.

There have been no reports of injuries. Webster Township Supervisor John Kingsley said by email said he was not initially aware of the incident, Tuesday.

“It was not a true ‘airplane.’ It appears to be a ‘sports plane,'” Kingsley wrote.

http://welovedexter.com

NTSB Identification: CEN16LA264
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, July 10, 2016 in Dexter, MI
Aircraft: ALONSO CH 701, registration: N701ZG
Injuries: 1 Uninjured.

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 may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

On July 10, 2016, at 1223 eastern daylight time, an Alonso CH 701, N701ZG, collided with the terrain during an off airport landing in Dexter, Michigan, following a loss of engine power. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. The aircraft was registered to a private individual and was operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which was not operated on a flight plan. The flight originated from Livingston County Spencer J Hardy Airport (OZW), Howell, Michigan about 1155.

The pilot reported he originally took off from the Howard Nixon Memorial Airport (50G), Chesaning, Michigan, and was flying to the Ann Arbor Municipal Airport (ARB) when the engine began running rough. He landed at OZW to examine the engine with another pilot who was flying in an accompanying airplane. He stated they were not able to find anything wrong with the engine. The started the engine and performed a run-up which he stated were normal so he took off to continue the flight to ARB. While en route, the engine started running rough once again and subsequently lost all power. 

The pilot chose to land in a soybean field. During the landing approach, he saw powerlines and had to lower the pitch altitude to fly under them. The airplane impacted hard in the field.

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