Picayune Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Picayune, Mississippi 39466
Sunday, October 15, 1995 8:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

An ear witness heard the aircraft crash shortly after departure from runway 23. The airplane was found about 125 yards southwest of the departure end of runway 23. An examination revealed evidence that the airplane had impacted in a right wing down and nose down attitude. During a postaccident examination and disassembly of the engine, the left magneto was found to be damaged. About 50 percent of the gear teeth were sheared off of the left magneto distributor rotor gear.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

a worn left magneto distributor gear, which resulted in a loss of engine power; and failure of the pilot to maintain adequate airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall and collision with the ground.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/15/1995
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 800
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City PICAYUNE
Event State MISSISSIPPI
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 39466
Event Date Year 1995
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport PICAYUNE
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PCU
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport 220
Airport Elevation 62
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 747 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 290
Weather Observation Facility ID GPT
Elevation of weather observation facility 28
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 34
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 15000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
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) 12
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 340
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 0
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) 2017
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Oct 15 1995 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 947
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 7 2000 4:38PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N71590
NTSB Number ATL96FA006
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 Luscombe
Aircraft Model 8E
Aircraft Series Identifier 8E
Aircraft Serial Number 3017
Certified Max Gross Weight 1400
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 Jan 3 1995 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 72
Airframe Hours 2329
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name MICHAEL J. COUSINS, JR.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 117 VICTORIA DRIVE
Aircraft Owner City BELLE CHASSE
Aircraft Owner State LA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 70037
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name RANDY E. LEE
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 60 GEORGE WALKER RD
Operator City PICAYUNE
Operator State MS
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 39466
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 Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code PCU
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 800
Departure Time Zone CDT
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 Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:30AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 23
Runway Length 4500
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --