Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wausau, Wisconsin 54403
Monday, March 15, 1999 14:20 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The aircraft experienced a loss of engine power while in cruise flight. The pilot, after noticing a drop in rpm, applied carburetor heat and the engine quit. The airplane nosed over during a forced landing in a snow-covered field. The aircraft owner stated, in a telephone conversation, he had flown the airplane the previous day when the engine quit after a normal landing. After exiting the plane he noticed that there was fuel running out of the carburetor and that tapping on the carburetor stopped the fuel from running. The owner contacted a mechanic, who was not an aircraft mechanic, and was told that the problem was from dirt in the carburetor. The mechanic advised running the engine and then shutting off the fuel to purge the dirt from the carburetor. On the day of the accident, the pilot and the aircraft owner started the engine and shut off the fuel allowing the engine to quit. The pilot stated that the owner said that this would fix the problem. The fuel system was inspected and no anomalies were found. The main fuel tank contained between six and seven gallons of fuel. A post accident inspection of the carburetor revealed no anomalies that could be associated with the reported problem of float sticking.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the loss of engine power for undetermined reasons and the lack of suitable terrain for landing. A factor to the accident was the aircraft owner not performing necessary maintenance to the aircraft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/15/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1420 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | WAUSAU |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 54403 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| 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 | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1405 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AUW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1201 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| 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) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 18 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 653 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 241 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 15 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1618 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 11:26AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N40888 |
| NTSB Number | CHI99LA109 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | J5A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | J5A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5-1198 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1450 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 14 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 36 |
| Airframe Hours | 3608 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JOHN CHMIEL |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 511 KENT STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | WAUSAU |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 54403 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | AUW |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| 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 | -- |