9 May 2010: JORRITSMA JERROLD S BERKUT

9 May 2010: JORRITSMA JERROLD S BERKUT (N3255U) — Unknown operator

No fatalities • Loveland, CO, United States

Probable cause

A loss of engine power due to a malfunction of the fuel controller resulting in a compressor stall.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

On May 9, 2010, approximately 1000 mountain daylight time, a Jorritsma Berkut, N3255U, was substantially damaged during a forced landing following a total loss of engine power during initial takeoff . The private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The airplane was owned and operated by the pilot. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The local flight was departing the Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport (KFNL), Loveland, Colorado at the time of the accident.

According to a statement provided by the pilot, shortly after departing KFNL and climbing through 7,500 feet mean seal level, the pilot made a power reduction. A loud bang was heard and vibrations were felt by the pilot. The pilot scanned the engine instruments and determined that the engine was "rolling back" and losing power. The pilot attempted to return to the airport, but impacted terrain short of the runway. The airplane's landing gear collapsed during the forced landing, and substantial damage was sustained to the fuselage and both wings.

The engine was equipped with an experimental engine. The Jorritsma T58-8F was a turbojet engine based on General Electric T58-GE-8F turboshaft design. The engine's compressor section has variable stators which are actuated by the fuel controller. An examination of the engine by the owner/manufacturer revealed that a malfunction of the fuel controller resulted in conditions conducive for compressor stalls.

Contributing factors

  • cause Malfunction

Conditions

Weather
VMC, vis 10sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.