NTSB Factual Report

On May 4, 2006, about 1728 eastern daylight time, a Glasair III, N317PS, registered to and operated by a private individual, was landed hard at Spruce Creek Airport, Daytona Beach, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight from Daytona Beach International Airport, Daytona Beach, Florida, to Spruce Creek Airport. The airplane was substantially damaged and the private-rated pilot, the sole occupant, sustained minor injuries. The flight originated about 1712, from Daytona Beach.

The pilot stated that the airplane was at Daytona Beach for an engine adjustment and maintenance to the airplane's brakes. The purpose of the accident flight was to reposition to Spruce Creek Airport, where the airplane is based. Prior to departure he performed a preflight inspection and several high speed taxi runs down the runway to "...burn in the new brakes evenly. The engine, instruments, and brakes all worked fine." The flight was cleared for takeoff and he orbited the departure airport one time, then proceeded to the destination airport where he also orbited the airport one time. He entered the traffic pattern for landing on runway 05, and "...somewhere between downwind to base leg the engine quit and I immediately turned the aircraft towards the runway while I attempted to re-start the engine." He was unable to restart the engine and while turning to line up with the runway after clearing trees, the airplane experienced an accelerated stall. He recovered to a wings level attitude, but impacted onto the runway in a nose low attitude. He secured the airplane then waited for help to arrive.

Examination of the engine by an FAA airworthiness inspector revealed that movement of the throttle control in the cockpit did not result in movement of the throttle control shaft at the servo fuel injector. The serrated teeth of the throttle control arm which connects to serrated teeth of the throttle control shaft were ratcheting or slipping with movement of the throttle control in the cockpit. Further examination of the throttle control arm revealed a castellated nut was installed but not tight, and no cotter pin was noted securing the castellated nut. Additionally, the left magneto was not operating. That discrepancy was traced to a failure of the carbon brush not contacting the coil tab inside the magneto. No other discrepancies were reported.

Review of the airplane maintenance records revealed the servo fuel injector (fuel servo) had been overhauled on March 22, 2006, and reinstalled, but the mechanic who reinstalled the fuel servo did not make an entry in the airplane maintenance records indicating the work he had performed. The mechanic who installed the servo fuel injector reported to the FAA airworthiness inspector that he should have caught the missing cotter pin.

NTSB Probable Cause

The failure of the pilot to maintain airspeed while turning towards the runway after experiencing a partial loss of engine power, resulting in an uncontrolled descent, and in-flight collision with the runway. A factor in the accident was the failure of maintenance personnel to properly secure the throttle control lever at the servo fuel injector following maintenance.