N401KY

On May 27, 2005, about 1135 eastern daylight time, a Hamilton Stoddard Glasair II S experimental amateur-built airplane, N401KY, registered to and operated by a private individual, as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, crashed in the vicinity of the Naked Lady Ranch Airport, Palm City, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The airline transport-rated pilot received minor injuries, and the airplane was destroyed. The flight was originating at the time of the accident.

According to the pilot, the takeoff was normal until just after rotation, when he felt a loss of power during the takeoff/initial climb. At an altitude of about 30 feet AGL, he said he saw that the engine rpm had dropped from 2270 rpm to about 1800 rpm, and he immediately concentrated on maintaining airspeed, which had dropped to about 60 to 65 mph. According to the pilot, all he could do was to maintain a wings-level attitude just above stall speed and fly the airplane into the trees.

Postcrash examination of the accident airplane was performed by an FAA licensed airframe and powerplant mechanic, under the supervision of an FAA Inspector. According the mechanic, the throttle cable was found to have pulled free of the hole/nut that secured the throttle cable to the throttle arm on the carburetor. No other anomalies were noted to exist in any other airplane systems.