Gardner VARIEZE accident near Quemado, NM
On October 18, 1999, a Gardner VARIEZE (airplane) was involved in an accident near Quemado, NM. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- October 18, 1999
- Place
- Quemado, NM
- Aircraft
- Gardner VARIEZE · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 34.311°N, 108.791°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001212X19936
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On October 18, 1999, approximately 1010 mountain daylight time, a Gardner VariEze experimental homebuilt aircraft, N13WM, was substantially damaged when it nosed over during a precautionary landing following a partial loss of engine power while in cruise flight 20 miles southwest of Quemado, New Mexico. The private pilot was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal cross-country flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated from St. Johns Industrial Airpark, St. Johns, Arizona, at 0850 mountain standard time, with an intended destination of Albuquerque, New Mexico. According to the owner of Light Speed Engineering (LSE), the manufacturer of the airplane's ignition system and propeller, the pilot had flown to his repair facility in Santa Paula, California, on either October 10 or 11. He stated that he grounded N13WM due to the aircraft having a blown tire and not being equipped with brake pads. According to a work invoice dated October 16, 1999, the repairman performed a wheelpant repair, winglet modification, removal and replacement of brakes and tires, a cowling modification for baffling stop, an ignition and carburetor adjustment, and alternator bracket repair, a propeller refinish and balance, and a throttle adjustment. According to the owner, the pilot did not report any mechanical discrepancies with the engine when he arrived at his facility. According to the owner of the Hal Hunt exhaust system and the engine's fiberglass air box assembly, both installed on N
Probable cause
The pilot's selection of an unsuitable landing area on which to make a precautionary landing, and his excessive airspeed during landing touchdown. Factors were the ingestion of the foam air filter into the throat of the injector, and the pilot's failure to replace the worn air filter.
More accidents in NM
- Gates Learjet 25D, Sep 5, 1993
- Piper PA-32-300, Dec 26, 1982
- Mitsubishi MU-2B-30, Jun 25, 1992
- Cessna 421C, Feb 11, 1985
- Beech 58, Mar 26, 1982
Browse: New Mexico
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
