Pilot Debrief

Rotherwick HR Glasair III near Darby, MT — 2012-05-17

Final reportWPR12CA213
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Date
2012-05-17
Location
Darby, MT, USA
Aircraft
Rotherwick HR Glasair III
Registration
N471B
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0

Probable cause

The pilot’s loss of directional control during an emergency landing on a paved highway.

NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, about 2 hours into a visual flight rules cross-country flight, he enriched the mixture due to indications of excessive cylinder head and exhaust gas temperatures. This resulted in a higher fuel burn than planned, so he changed the flight’s destination to a closer airport. While en route to his amended destination, he encountered instrument meteorological conditions. A subsequent buildup of ice resulted in a loss of 100 knots of airspeed as the airplane entered a controlled descent. The pilot executed a 180-degree turn and broke out of the clouds over a valley. During the next 50 minutes, he made several attempts to exit the valley; however, mountain peak obscuration and a thunderstorm prevented him from flying out of the valley. Now very close to fuel exhaustion, he elected to land on a two-lane highway. During the landing roll, the airplane veered off the side of the road, impacted a tree, slid backwards through a ditch, and collided with a concrete drainage culvert. The airplane sustained damage to the outboard sections of both wings.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 3 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents3

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