Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Meriden Markham Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wallingford, Connecticut 06429
Sunday, July 24, 1994 17:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT AND PASSENGER HAD CONDUCTED A 30 TO 40 MINUTE LOCAL FLIGHT IN THE PILOT'S AIRPLANE, AND RETURNED TO THE AIRPORT. THE PILOT HAD THE AIRPORT REFUELER PUT 10 GALLONS OF FUEL INTO THE LEFT WING TANK ONLY. THE PILOT TOLD THE REFUELER HE WAS TRYING TO DRY OUT THE RIGHT TANK TO PERFORM MAINTENANCE ON IT. THE PILOT AND PASSENGER THEN DEPARTED IN THE AIRPLANE FOR ANOTHER FLIGHT. SEVERAL MINUTES AFTER TAKEOFF, THE AIRPLANE WAS OBSERVED INBOUND TO THE AIRPORT AT A LOW ALTITUDE, FLYING OVER PROPERTY OWNED BY THE PILOT. THE ENGINE WAS HEARD TO COUGH AND THEN STOP. THE AIRPLANE THEN PERFORMED A LEFT 180 DEGREE TURN AND NOSED INTO THE GROUND. THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED IN A OPEN FIELD OWNED BY THE PILOT. EXAMINATION REVEALED THE FUEL TANKS WERE RUPTURED ON IMPACT, AND THE FUEL SELECTOR WAS SET TO THE LEFT TANK. NO ENGINE OR AIRFRAME ANOMALIES WERE NOTED. THE ENGINE WAS NOT EQUIPPED WITH A FUEL PRIMER SYSTEM.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's decision to exhaust the fuel supply in the selected tank in-flight, and his failure to maintain the minimum stall speed during engine out conditions. This resulted in a complete loss of engine power and the inadvertent stall and impact with the ground. A factor in this accident was the inadequate altitude in which the pilot exhausted the fuel.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/24/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | WALLINGFORD |
| Event State | CONNECTICUT |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 06429 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | MERIDEN MARKHAM MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MMK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 105 |
| Airport Elevation | 103 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1645 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 40 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HFD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 19 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 16 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 12 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| 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) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1125 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 24 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 11:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6842N |
| NTSB Number | NYC94FA135 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MOONEY |
| Aircraft Model | M20C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | M20C |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 680129 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2575 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 6 1994 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 55 |
| Airframe Hours | 1943 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ALICE M. NIGRO |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1209 OLD COLONY ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | WALLINGFORD |
| Aircraft Owner State | CT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 06429 |
| 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 | MMK |
| Departure City | MERIDEN |
| Departure State | CT |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1650 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 | Cruise |
| 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 | -- |