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| Date: | Thursday 8 July 2004 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Falconar F12A Cruiser |
| Owner/operator: | |
| Registration: | ZS-UJM |
| MSN: | ZS-WFB-1 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1977 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, repaired |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Open Field at Syferfontein Aerodrome -
 South Africa
|
| Phase: | Unknown |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Vereeniging Aerodrome |
| Brits Aerodrome | |
| Investigating agency: | CAA S.A. |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The pilot stated that a day before the flight the father of the two passengers asked him if he could take his children with because they had never flown in an aircraft before just to give them that experience and he agreed to take them with on this flight to Brits. On a private flight from Vereeniging Aerodrome to Brits Aerodrome and when overhead Letabo power station the engine started to run rough, the pilot stated that he first thought it was carburettor icing and immediately followed the procedure, mixture rich, carburettor ice on and throttle open. At this stage the engine was still running rough and the pilot decided to divert to Syferfontein Aerodrome for a precautionary landing. On approach to the Runway 13 the pilot stated that he retarded the throttle and the engine stopped immediately.
For some reason unknown to the pilot he pulled back the control stick, the aircraft stalled and spun to the left. The pilot does not recall what had occurred after that moment. The investigation revealed that the the exhaust valve in cylinder number: 3 failed due to probable fatigue initiated by pitting which resulted from corrosion. The aircraft was destroyed and the persons on board were seriously injured. The aircraft was certified airworthy and issued with a Private Authority to Fly on 23 December 2003. The last Annual Inspection was certified on 21 December 2003 at 1170 flying hours and the aircraft was operated for 22 hours since the last Annual Inspection.
PROBABLE CAUSE: The exhaust valve in cylinder number: 3 failed due to probable fatigue initiated by pitting which resulted from corrosion. When the valve failed the engine started running rough, the pilot elected to do a precautionary landing at Syferfontein Aerodrome. On approach to land on the runway the pilot pulled the throttle the engine stopped and subsequently pulled back the control stick, this lead to a stall resulting in the pilot losing control of the aircraft and it crashed.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
S.A. CAA
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 14 October 2023 | ZS-UJM | Private | 2 | Springs Airfield (FASI), Ekurhuleni, Gauteng | |
w/o |
| Wing failure | ||||||
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 05-Nov-2024 08:38 | ASN | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Other fatalities, Nature, Narrative, ] |
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