Bitonti WITTMAN WT-8 N88TK

Summary

On 16 December 1995 at about 15:38 local time, a Bitonti WITTMAN WT-8 registered N88TK was involved in an accident near Plymouth, Michigan, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

16 December 1995 at 15:38

Classification

Accident

Location

Plymouth, Michigan, United States

Nearest airport

Canton-Plymouth Mettetal (1D2)

Coordinates

42.3699, -83.4608

Aircraft

Bitonti WITTMAN WT-8

Registration

N88TK

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI96LA054

1 person had minor injuries.

a stuck exhaust valve resulting in an overtemperature condition of the cylinder, the pilot's continued operation without corrective maintenance, and his failure to maintain aircraft control.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that when he started the engine he had a hard time keeping the engine running at idle. After takeoff, at about 300 feet, he noticed the cylinder head temperature was in the red zone. The pilot retarded the throttle and a total power loss occurred. During descent he lost control of the airplane and it collided with two trailers and two boats. Postcrash examination revealed that an exhaust valve on the #1 cylinder was stuck open, and that compression in the #3 cylinder was weak. The pilot stated that he had hot cylinder head temperatures before, and that pulling back on the throttle had worked previously.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.