Burkes BR-1 N677DB

Summary

On 22 June 2016 at about 14:00 local time, a Burkes BR-1 registered N677DB was involved in an accident near Brigham City, Utah, 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

22 June 2016 at 14:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Brigham City, Utah, United States

Coordinates

41.1906, -112.0078

Aircraft

Burkes BR-1

Registration

N677DB

Category

Airplane

Year built

2011

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Ogden → Ogden

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR16LA129

Nobody was injured.

A loss of engine power as a result of a failure of the primary and backup ignition system.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The experimental amateur-built airplane was being flown to test airplane maneuvers. The pilot reported that about 20 minutes after takeoff, the engine lost complete power. An annunciation light indicated that the primary ignition system was not operating, so the pilot switched to the backup ignition system and then the backup battery, but the engine did not respond. The pilot executed a landing into a field. During landing the landing gear caught in the rough, soft ground, and the airplane cartwheeled. A postaccident examination of the engine revealed a short circuit in the primary ignition system, but the source of the short circuit could not be determined. Although the ignition system had both a backup power source and backup ignition coils, they shared a common power bus with the primary ignition system. A short circuit of this bus would have rendered both the primary and backup ignition sources inoperable.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.