Kinner SPORTSTER B NC13776

Summary

On 23 July 2015 at about 22:00 local time, a Kinner SPORTSTER B registered NC13776 was involved in an accident near Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania, 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

23 July 2015 at 22:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania, United States

Nearest airport

Merritt Field (4PN7)

Coordinates

41.4208, -76.5344

Aircraft

Kinner SPORTSTER B

Registration

NC13776

Category

Airplane

Year built

1934

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Eagles Mere → Eagles Mere

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA15LA279

Nobody was injured.

The total loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined because postaccident examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot reported that the airplane had undergone a complete restoration and had been flown for about 8 hours in the 9 months before the accident. He added that, about 1 week before the accident, the airplane experienced a loss of engine power on takeoff but that he was able to land the airplane without incident. A carburetor anomaly was found that appeared to have produced an overly rich mixture and was subsequently corrected. On the day of the accident, an engine run was performed to verify that there were no operational issues. The pilot subsequently took off for the local personal flight, climbed the airplane to 50 ft above the runway, and then landed uneventfully. He then took off again, and when the airplane climbed to about 150 ft above the runway, the engine stopped, and the pilot then performed an off-airport forced landing. During the landing, the fuel tank ruptured, and the engine broke away from the fuselage. Subsequent examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The weather conditions at the time of the accident were conducive to the formation of serious carburetor icing at glide power. The airplane had carburetor heat, but the pilot reported that he did not use it in flight or on the ground. Although the formation of carburetor icing was highly unlikely under a full-power takeoff, it could have formed during the low-power taxi and then broken off or melted due to the added engine heat from the higher takeoff power. However, with no substantive evidence that carburetor ice had formed, the reason for the loss of power could not be determined.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.