Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Greencastle, Indiana 46135
Saturday, April 24, 1999 11:38 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight made a forced landing after an in-flight loss of power and was substantially damaged during roll out. Prior to the flight, the pilot performed a walkaround and found the airplane's fuel was full. He noticed in-flight the left fuel gauge read about 1/2 and less than 1/2 on the right. He decided to divert. The engine was losing power and he attempted an emergency landing in a wet grass and muddy field. After landing, the right fuel cap was found, out of it's filler neck area, on top of the right wing, and in the locked position. The pilot stated that if he had been notified of the fuel cap malfunction, the accident could have been prevented. A lineman parked and fueled the airplane with the owner before the accident. The lineman said the right wing fuel cap was not engaged in its filler neck area, was held on by its chain, and found in the locked position on top of the wing. The lineman stated the right wing had a blue trail down the back of the wing about 8 to 10 inches wide. The lineman said he told the owner about the cap. The lineman re-installed the right cap in its filler neck area on the wing. The cap was examined after the accident and the self-locking nut on the bottom of the fuel cap could be turned by hand. The cap's dome was found not seated on the bolt. The dome could be moved by hand.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot operating with known deficiencies in equipment and the fuel cap that disengaged. Factors were the wet grass, and muddy terrain conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/24/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1138 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | GREENCASTLE |
| Event State | INDIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 46135 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1156 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 78 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IND |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 797 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 15000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| 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) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | Minor |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1641 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 24 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1409 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 4 2001 7:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3270T |
| NTSB Number | CHI99LA131 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 177 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 177 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17700570 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2350 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 7 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 60 |
| Airframe Hours | 2443 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PAUL D. AND MARCELLA STEWARD |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 15602 CENTURY DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | HUDSON |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34677 |
| 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 | CHA |
| Departure City | CHATTANOOGA |
| Departure State | TN |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 930 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LAF |
| Destination City | LAFAYETTE |
| Destination State | IN |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 4 2001 7:06AM |
| 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 | -- |