Amateur-built Bede IV accident near Acme, Michigan, May 26, 2004
On May 26, 2004 at about 11:30 pm local time, a amateur-built Bede IV, registered N115PK, was substantially damaged in an accident near Acme, Michigan. It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
Engine oil starvation and inadequate maintenance by the pilot.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- May 26, 2004 · about 11:30 pm local time
- Place
- Acme, Michigan · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built Bede IV
- Registration
- N115PK · registry record · serial 115
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The experimental amateur-built airplane impacted a lake during a forced landing. The reported damage to the engine's components were consistent with oil starvation. The pilot was also the manufacturer and owner of the airplane. The pilot stated that the engine accumulated a total time since new of about 125 hours. The engine was never overhauled since it was purchased by the pilot in 1969. The engine manufacturer’s service instruction states that the engine is to be overhauled in the twelfth year if it does not accumulate the hourly period of time between overhauls.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: private
- Ratings: single-engine land
- Flight time: 1,632 hours in all; 148 in this make and model
- Medical certificate: Class 3
The aircraft
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-320-D2C (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: TVC Traverse City MI
- Destination: TVC
- Flight plan: none
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Other NTSB records under N115PK the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The docket at the NTSB holds the report as a PDF and the investigation's photographs and documents. This site never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number CHI04CA142.