Glasair III accident near Ford Heights, IL
On October 20, 2020, a Glasair III (airplane) was involved in an accident near Ford Heights, IL. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- October 20, 2020
- Place
- Ford Heights, IL
- Aircraft
- Glasair III · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 41.508°N, 87.579°W
- NTSB ID
- 20201021102171
Official records · CEN21FA024
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
On October 20, 2020, about 1710 central daylight time, a Glasair III airplane, N713MJ, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Ford Heights, Illinois. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Witnesses reported seeing the low flying airplane “dragging” the light pole across the highway. The airplane then impacted the highway and came to rest in a wooded area alongside the road. Another witness reported that it sounded like the engine “cut off” and restarted before it lost power again. A review of the airplane’s flight track revealed the pilot departed from Lansing Municipal Airport (IGQ) about 1645 and flew southwest before heading back to IGQ. The accident site was about 3 miles southwest of IGQ. The pilot was not in contact with air traffic control and there are no known distress calls from the pilot. Figure 1: Accident airplane’s flight track The fuselage sustained substantial damage and was separated from the wings. The right wing had leading edge damage consistent with the light pole impact, and the left wing sustained ground impact damage. The engine came to rest inverted and remained partially attached to the fuselage. The wing fuel tanks were breached in the accident, and the amount of fuel on board could not be determined. A postaccident examination of the engine noted that the rear cylinder push rods were bent, the right lower engine mount was broken, and the attachment spring on the propeller governor was broken, consistent with impact damage. The engine
Probable cause
The loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined based on the available evidence.
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Browse: Illinois
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
