Horvath PITTS S-1C N81PU

Summary

On 14 May 2005 at about 21:45 local time, a Horvath PITTS S-1C registered N81PU was involved in an accident near Creswell, 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

14 May 2005 at 21:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Creswell, Oregon, United States

Nearest airport

Hobby Field (77S)

Coordinates

43.9331, -123.0519

Aircraft

Horvath PITTS S-1C

Registration

N81PU

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Creswell → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA05LA099

Nobody was injured.

Loss of engine power as a result of a carburetor float drop restriction during cruise flight. Tall grass in the landing area was a factor in the accident.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that approximately 15 minutes after takeoff, while in straight and level flight at 4,000 feet MSL, the engine began to run rough and eventually lost power. After experiencing the loss of engine power, the pilot initiated a landing to a nearby open field. During the landing roll out, the airplane encountered tall grass and nosed over resulting in substantial damage. The pilot reported that post accident examination of the airplane's engine revealed that the brass carburetor float travel (total drop travel) was approximately 3/16 of an inch, 5/16 of an inch less than specified for normal operations. The carburetor float level is a means of regulating the amount of total fuel delivered to the engine via the metering jet.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.