Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Whitewright, Texas 75491
Thursday, December 28, 1995 16:00 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that shortly after takeoff, the airplane's engine 'stopped and then started up again.' Soon after, the engine started to lose power again. A forced landing was made. When the aircraft was inspected, it was found that one of the spark plugs in each of the number 1, 4, 5, and 6 cylinders were 'finger' tight, and the second spark plug in the number 6 cylinder had completely separated from the cylinder. These plugs were removed by a mechanic for the pre-buy inspection prior to the pilots purchase of the airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The separation of a spark plug and 4 other spark plugs being 'finger' tight as a result of undertorquing by maintenance personnel when they were reinstalled following inspection. A factor was a lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/28/1995
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1600
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City WHITEWRIGHT
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 75491
Event Date Year 1995
Event Date Month 12
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 Unknown
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1647 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 320
Weather Observation Facility ID F39
Elevation of weather observation facility 749
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 12
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
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) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 7
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 110
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
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 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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1959
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Dec 28 1995 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1515
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 7 2000 4:51PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6127K
NTSB Number FTW96LA081
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 Republic
Aircraft Model RC 3
Aircraft Series Identifier RC 3
Aircraft Serial Number 313
Certified Max Gross Weight 3150
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 Dec 25 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 1547
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name INTERESTING INVESTMENTS, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2440 E. TUDOR RD #149
Aircraft Owner City ANCHORAGE
Aircraft Owner State AK
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 99507
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name WILLIAM GRANTHAM
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 22000 S. PRICE RD.
Operator City CHANDLER
Operator State AZ
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 85248
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 48TX
Departure City WHITERIGHT
Departure State TX
Departure Country
Departure Time 1550
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code P10
Destination City CHANDLER
Destination State AZ
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Climb
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 --