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CHI83LU011 · Pioneer FLIGHTSTAR

27 Aug 1983 · Robinson, IL, United States

Pioneer FLIGHTSTAR · Accident: partial loss of engine power (mechanical failure) while maneuvering

From Robinson Municipal Airport (RSV) to an unrecorded destination

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Event

NTSB case
CHI83LU011
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

Pioneer FLIGHTSTAR

Aircraft type
Pioneer FLIGHTSTAR
Category
Ultralight
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
UNREG
Operator
Unknown
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Robinson Municipal Airport (RSV), Robinson, ILTo not recorded
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 103: Ultralight
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Maneuvering · turn to reverse direction
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Partial loss of engine power (mechanical failure)
Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
Fuel starvation; Stall
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Substantial

Cause areas

  • Fluid, fuel › Starvation
  • Fuel system, line › Other
  • Pilot in command › Airspeed, not maintained
  • Pilot in command › Stall, inadvertent

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

THE PLT REPORTED THAT AFTER TAKING OFF, HE STAYED LOW OVER FARM FIELDS. HE REPORTED THAT HE TRAVELED ABOUT 1 1/4 MI FROM THE ARPT & DECIDED TO RETURN & LAND. HOWEVER, DURING A LEFT TURN, THE ULTRALIGHT VEHICLE CRASHED. THE PLT WAS SERIOUSLY INJURED & DID NOT REMEMBER DETAILS OF THE ACCIDENT AFTER REGAINING CONSCIOUSNESS. A GROUND WITNESS REPORTED THE ULTRALIGHT WAS FLYING SLOW WHEN THE NOSE PITCHED DOWN & IT ENTERED A SPIRAL & HIT THE GROUND. THE PLT STATED THAT HE BEGAN THE TURN WHILE AT APRX 75 TO 100 FT AGL & WAS INCREASING POWER WHEN THE RIGHT WING CAME UP & THE NOSE DROPPED. AN EXAM OF THE FLT CONTROLS SHOWED CONTINUITY THRU-OUT THE SYS. AN INSPECTION OF THE ENG REVEALED THE URETHANE HOSE WAS PINCHED & MELTED AT A LOCATION BETWEEN THE ENG CASE & THE PULSATING FUEL PUMP. A FURTHER INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT ON A 50 DEG DAY, THE TEMP IN THAT AREA WOULD BE APRX 175 TO 200 DEG & THAT THE HOSE WOULD COLLAPSE & BECOME SEATED TOGETHER AT 200 DEG. THE TEMPERATURE ON THE DAY OF THE ACCIDENT WAS 98 DEG.

Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record CHI83LU011
Event ID
20001214X44097
Case number
CHI83LU011
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 244be3c3f795d29b50c15139f1c20e0c1b4bb97aa3f337e4912be6b861fe6e9a; retrieved 2026-09-21T17:48:56.656Z.