Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Tri-City Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Jonesborough, Tennessee 37659
Thursday, August 17, 1995 9:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot took off on a cross-country flight with an estimated 6.5 hours of fuel on board. After about four hours of flight, he noted a total loss of engine power. He selected a forced landing area and maneuvered to land. During the final approach to touchdown, the nose of the airplane suddenly pitched up when the front seat passenger/pilot interfered with the flight control. Subsequently, the airplane collided with the ground in a nose low attitude. Examination of the airframe failed to reveal a mechanical problem. Functional examination of the engine revealed a plugged (blocked) fuel injector nozzle. Functional examination/check of the engine disclosed that the fuel consumption rate was high. With the injector plugged, fuel consumption was about 143 pounds per hour (pph). After it was repaired, the normal fuel rate was 107 pph. The airplane was equipped with a normal fuel quantity gage.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
a blocked fuel injector nozzle, which increased the engine fuel consumption; failure of the pilot to adequately monitor fuel consumption, which resulted in fuel exhaustion before the airplane reached the destination; and the passenger's interference with the flight controls during the emergency landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/17/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 945 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | JONESBOROUGH |
| Event State | TENNESSEE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 37659 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | TRI-CITY AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TRI |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 15 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | 1519 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 955 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TRI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1519 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Partial Obscuration |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 2 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 3000 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2015 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 17 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1120 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7080L |
| NTSB Number | ATL95FA159 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | Unknown |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | WSK PZL Mielec |
| Aircraft Model | M-26 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | M-26 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1APP01-02 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3086 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 27 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 14 |
| Airframe Hours | 722 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MELEX USA INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1221 FRONT STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | RALEIGH |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 27609 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PIE |
| Departure City | ST PETERSBURG |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 545 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | TRI |
| Destination City | BLOUNTVILLE |
| Destination State | TN |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| 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 | 23 |
| Runway Length | 7999 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |