JON BERGSTEDT JP FLYER

Full Narrative

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn September 14, 2024, at 0930 Alaska daylight time, an experimental amateur-built, JP Flyer airplane, N1202Y, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Wasilla, Alaska. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 flight test.
According to a close friend, the accident pilot built the airplane at his home in Anchorage, Alaska, and transported it to Anderson Lake Airport (0AK1) to be assembled in the friend’s hangar. The accident flight was the pilot’s first flight in the airplane.
The friend of the pilot, who witnessed the accident, stated the pilot added fuel and started the engine twice, for a leak check and a magneto check, for a total run time of less than 5 minutes. The witness watched the pilot start the engine and taxi to the runway. He stated that, after the airplane took off and while it was over the departure end of the runway, it sounded like the pilot closed the throttle and the engine noise was not as loud as he expected it to be. The airplane continued to climb over the trees, then the nose came down and there was a slight left bank toward the road before the witness lost sight of the airplane.
Another witness at the airport reported that, as the airplane began its initial takeoff roll on runway 8, the engine sounded like it was not producing full takeoff power, and the witness initially thought that the pilot was conducting a high-speed taxi. The airplane unexpectedly became airborne, but the witness said the engine sounded unusual, as if it were not producing enough power. Residents who lived nearby reported hearing the engine sputter.
The airplane continued to descend into a residential neighborhood about 0.25 miles east of the airport, and it subsequently impacted a paved residential roadway in a near-vertical, nose-down attitude. A postimpact fire immediately followed, which incinerated a large portion of the airplane wreckage.
Data from an onboard GPS device revealed that the airplane reached an altitude of about 103 ft above ground level, and a maximum groundspeed of about 53 kts.
The pilot was not in communication with air traffic control at the time of the accident and there were no known distress calls received from the airplane. PERSONNEL INFORMATIONNo pilot logbook was recovered. AIRCRAFT INFORMATIONNo airframe or engine logbooks were recovered. AIRPORT INFORMATIONNo airframe or engine logbooks were recovered. WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATIONAn initial NTSB on-scene wreckage examination revealed that all major components of the airplane were accounted for at the accident site. There was tree debris in the area immediately surrounding the wreckage, there were also branches and debris slightly further from the airplane.
The airplane’s fabric covering was consumed by the postimpact fire. The wings were equipped with high-performance PSTOL flaps.
The engine was impact- and thermally damaged and was removed from the airframe for further examination. The engine was examined with a lighted borescope and no anomalies were noted in the cylinders or the camshaft. The ignition harness, oil cooler, and oil filter were thermally damaged. The oil suction screen was unobstructed and secure in the oil sump. Both of the electric magnetos remained attached and were thermally damaged. The spark plugs were removed and were in good condition.
The carburetor had extensive external and internal thermal damage and was removed for further examination. The foam floats were thermally damaged and blistered. The fuel inlet screen contained a small amount of debris. Fluid was present in the carburetor bowl; it had no color and no odor. It was tested with water finding paste and tested positive for water, likely from the postimpact fire and the wreckage being stored outside. The MA-4-5 carburetor was in its original condition without modifications.
The braided steel hose that connected the fuel transducer to the carburetor was non-standard and smaller than a standard fuel hose. The braided steel hose had a kink near the output of the fuel transducer (see figure 1). According to Advisory Circular 90-89C (Amateur-Built Aircraft and Ultralight Flight Testing Handbook), and CFR 23.957, “Fuel Flow”, subpart (b) Gravity systems. The fuel flow rate for gravity system (main and reserve supply) must be 150% of the takeoff fuel consumption of the engine. For the Lycoming O-360 the full power fuel consumption is about 16 gallons per hour(gph), the 150% flow would be 24 gph; the fuel line should have been a minimum of 3/8” fuel line. The fuel line installed measured 7/32”.

Figure 1. View of the kink in the braided steel hose from the carburetor to the gasoclator.
According to the pilot’s friend the engine was manufactured in the late 1970s. In the early 1990s it was involved in a propeller strike and sat unused until the pilot purchased it for his airplane.
Service Bulletin MSA-3 Revision 1, dated November 18, 1991, titled “Overhaul Periods for Float Carburetors,” as issued by Precision Airmotive, LLC, indicated that the accident airplane's carburetor should be overhauled at the engine manufacturer's specified time between overhaul or 10 years in service or since last overhauled, whichever occurs first. The investigation found no airframe or engine logbook entries of compliance with Service Bulletin MSA-3 Rev. 1. There were no airframe or logbook entries of compliance with service letters or airworthiness directives regarding the carburetor. MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATIONThe autopsy of the pilot was performed by the Alaska State Medical Examiner. According to the autopsy report, the cause of death was blunt force and thermal injuries, and the manner of death was accident.
Toxicology testing performed at the FAA Forensic Sciences Laboratory found rosuvastatin and tamsulosin in the pilot's blood and urine. Rosuvastatin is a prescription medication used to treat high cholesterol. Tamsulosin is an alpha blocker used to treat benign prostate hyperplasia. Both of these medications are acceptable for pilots and not known to adversely affect performance.