New Kolb MARK III CLASSIC N528DJ

Summary

On 24 March 2012 at about 14:15 local time, a New Kolb MARK III CLASSIC registered N528DJ, operated by Kratina Kevin G, was involved in an accident near Deland, Florida, United States. 2 people were 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

24 March 2012 at 14:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Deland, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

DeLand Municipal (DED)

Coordinates

29.0669, -81.2839

Aircraft

New Kolb MARK III CLASSIC

Registration

N528DJ

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Kratina Kevin G

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Deland → Deland

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA12LA252

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's lack of preflight planning for potential carburetor icing conditions, and the subsequent flight in those conditions in an airplane not equipped with carburetor heat.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The experimental amateur-built airplane, with a carburetor-equipped engine, was airborne for about 1 hour under clear skies when the pilot attempted to land at the departure airport. While at reduced power, and during a traffic pattern turn from base leg to final, the engine lost power. The pilot deployed the airplane's parachute system, and the airplane settled into trees. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no preexisting mechanical anomalies, and an estimated 1 gallon of fuel was found in each fuel tank. A representative of the kit manufacturer examined photographs of the fuel tanks with the fuel remaining and indicated that the amount there was not enough to unport the tanks during a turn. He also noted that if the tanks did unport, there still would have been 3 to 4 minutes of fuel in the lines at cruise power plus additional fuel in the carburetor bowl. Temperature and dew point at the time of the accident were conducive to serious carburetor icing at glide power. The pilot did not check carburetor icing probability before the flight, and the engine was not equipped with carburetor heat.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.