Swertfeger VELOCITY 173 ELITE accident near Murfreesboro, TN
On December 18, 1999, a Swertfeger VELOCITY 173 ELITE (airplane) was involved in an accident near Murfreesboro, TN. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- December 18, 1999
- Place
- Murfreesboro, TN
- Aircraft
- Swertfeger VELOCITY 173 ELITE · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 35.849°N, 86.390°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001212X20292
NTSB summary
On December 18, 1999, at about 0917 central standard time, a Swertfeger Velocity 173 Elite, experimental homebuilt airplane, N627KB, registered to a private owner, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, crashed while on approach to Murfreesboro Municipal Airport, (MBT), Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The private pilot was fatally injured. The flight originated from Decatur, Alabama, (DCU) at an undetermined time. According to a witness, the accident pilot departed DCU following another pilot. He had talked to the pilots while taxiing out for takeoff at DCU over the airplane radio and determined that they were all going to the same breakfast fly-in. He caught up with the other two airplanes while en route to MBT. Upon arrival at MBT, N627KB entered traffic for runway 18, and he was located behind him. Someone announced on the UNICOM frequency that they were changing the landing runway to runway 36. He broke out of the current traffic pattern, entered downwind for runway 36, landed, and taxied to the parking ramp. A short time later, he heard N627KB state that his engine was out. He turned his airplane around and observed N627KB disappear behind the trees. Several witnesses on the ground observed the airplane flying lower than normal, and stated they heard sounds like the engine was trying to quit or was cutting on and off or cutting out before the accident. Two friends of the deceased pilot stated that about a month before the accident that they had both obse
Probable cause
The failure of an unknown maintenance person to comply with an Airworthiness Directive (replace center body bellows seal assembly and tube bushings) and Service Bulletin (replace fuel diaphragm) resulting in an in-flight power loss due to an over rich condition caused by the failure of the center body bellows seal assembly, and subsequent forced landing and in-flight collision with terrain.
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Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
