Wakulla County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Panacea, Florida 32346
Saturday, April 15, 1995 10:37 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE PILOT STATED HE REPORTED TO TALLAHASSEE APPROACH CONTROL THAT THE AIRPLANE'S ENGINE WAS RUNNING ROUGH. HE THEN REPORTED A TOTAL LOSS OF ENGINE POWER AND DECLARED AN EMERGENCY. THE PILOT STATED HE WAS HIGH, LANDED LONG, ROLLED OFF THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RUNWAY, AND THE AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH A FENCE AND A TELEPHONE BOOTH. EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE BY FAA REVEALED THE NUMBER TWO CYLINDER FAILED DUE TO THE EXHAUST VALVE HEAD SEPARATING FROM THE EXHAUST VALVE STEM.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO ATTAIN THE PROPER TOUCHDOWN POINT DURING A FORCED LANDING TO A RUNWAY. THIS RESULTED IN THE AIRPLANE ROLLING OFF THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RUNWAY, AND SUBSEQUENT ON GROUND COLLISION WITH A FENCE AND A TELEPHONE BOOTH. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS A TOTAL LOSS OF ENGINE POWER DUE TO A SEPARATION OF THE NUMBER TWO EXHAUST VALVE HEAD FROM THE VALVE STEM FOR UNDETERMINED REASONS.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/15/1995
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1037
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City PANACEA
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 32346
Event Date Year 1995
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport WAKULLA COUNTY AIRPORT
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 2JO
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 11
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1050 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 5
Weather Observation Facility ID TLH
Elevation of weather observation facility 81
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 20
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
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) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 150
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 500
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) 99
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Apr 15 1995 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1115
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 7 2000 4:13PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N19901
NTSB Number MIA95LA108
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model 172M
Aircraft Series Identifier 172M
Aircraft Serial Number 17260848
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300
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 Apr 1 1994 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 150
Airframe Hours 3600
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name WEDGECORP CONSTRUCTION
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3601 OLD TASSO RD
Aircraft Owner City CLEVELAND
Aircraft Owner State TN
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 37312
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name ELLIS, CLAUDE R
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 5771 BATES PIKE
Operator City CLEVELAND
Operator State TN
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 37312
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 PFN
Departure City PANAMA CITY
Departure State FL
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
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 18
Runway Length 2880
Runway Width 170
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --