Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fairfield, Virginia 24435
Tuesady, January 5, 1999 12:55 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was in cruise flight at 6,000 feet in below zero temperatures when the right engine stopped producing power. The pilot entered a left-hand orbit and attempted an engine restart. After several orbits, the left engine stopped producing power. The pilot completed a forced landing to a field that destroyed the airplane. Examination of the wreckage revealed evidence of fuel at the scene with the left fuel selector in the 'Auxiliary' position and the right selector in the 'Main' position. The right fuel selector filter element bowl could not be freed after removal of the mount screws. The bowl was pried free and the filter element screens were found completely occluded with ice. An FAA Airworthiness Directive (AD), 'To eliminate water contamination of the aircraft fuel supply', that mandated compliance every 50 hours of operation, had not been complied with in 16 calendar months and 234 hours of operation. The Owner's Handbook stated auxiliary fuel and tip tank fuel should be used in level flight only, and that the single engine service ceiling was approximately 5,800 feet, at maximum gross weight. Both engines started and ran to rated power in a test cell.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The owner's failure to comply with the Airworthiness Directive and the subsequent fuel system filter blockage by ice leading to fuel starvation and power loss of the right engine. Additionally, the pilot's improper selection of the left auxiliary fuel tank position and the subsequent fuel starvation and power loss of the left engine. Contributing factors were low temperature (below freezing) conditions and the pilot's failure to follow procedures delineated in the Owner's Handbook.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/5/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1255 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | FAIRFIELD |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 24435 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Unknown |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1254 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 240 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ROA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1160 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 40 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1215 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 5 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1340 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 23 2001 9:38AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3TH |
| NTSB Number | IAD99LA026 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-30 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-30 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7103002 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 2 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 60 |
| Airframe Hours | 4250 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WILSON OLIVER AGENCY INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 280 |
| Aircraft Owner City | ABERDEEN |
| Aircraft Owner State | MD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 21001 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MTN |
| Departure City | BALTIMORE |
| Departure State | MD |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1136 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ROA |
| Destination City | ROANOKE |
| Destination State | VA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 23 2001 11:29AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |