Morton CHRISTAVIA MARK I N1143L

Summary

On 1 May 2000 at about 15:18 local time, a Morton CHRISTAVIA MARK I registered N1143L was involved in an accident near Salem, Oregon, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

1 May 2000 at 15:18

Classification

Accident

Location

Salem, Oregon, United States

Nearest airport

McNary Field (SLE)

Coordinates

44.8992, -123.0603

Aircraft

Morton CHRISTAVIA MARK I

Registration

N1143L

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA00LA079

Nobody was injured.

The pilot/builder's failure to correct the center of gravity computations after a weight increase. A contributing factor was the pilot/builder's exceeding the forward CG limit in fuel weight, of which both conditions resulted in a degradation of aircraft control.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot/builder of the kitplane took off from runway 13 on the aircraft's initial test flight and immediately encountered a nose heavy condition. He declared an emergency and maneuvered to land on runway 34. He reported that during his approach the aircraft was controllable as long as power was applied, but on short final he instinctively reduced power and the nose of the aircraft abruptly pitched down. The aircraft then impacted the ground and slid up onto the runway. The center of gravity range limits had been calculated by the pilot/builder as between 10.5 to 19.5 inches with the aircraft's empty weight CG at 11.0 inches. Following the calculations, the pilot/builder changed the aircraft's battery (located forward of the cockpit) which added 7 pounds, and added a new engine exhaust system adding 2-3 additional pounds. A new CG was not calculated. Center of gravity calculations based on the earlier weight/CG of the aircraft, including the weight of the pilot and the 96 pounds of fuel also placed the CG 0.5 inch forward of the old forward limit.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.