Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Tri-City Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Blountville, Tennessee 37617
Wednesday, February 7, 1996 3:45 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The night instrument instruction flight was cruising at 9,000 feet, VFR on top, when the left half of the top engine cowling ripped off and lodged on the horizontal stabilizer. The airplane was difficult to control, and would not maintain level flight. The instructor and the student diverted to a nearby airport and landed uneventfully. An FAA inspector examined the airplane and stated that the left cowl pin was missing, but it did not fail, having been torn away along with the surrounding cowling material. The manager of the shop where the airplane was repaired stated that he had previously observed worn side latches and pin grommets that allowed the upper cowl pin to slide out of the lower pin hole, which would allow air flow to rip off the upper cowling. There were no FAA malfunction/defect reports of a similar failure, and the manufacturer did not have records of any previous failure.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Inadequate maintenance, and subsequent in-flight separation of the cowling, due to worn cowling components.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/7/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 345 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | BLOUNTVILLE |
| Event State | TENNESSEE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 37617 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | TRI-CITY REGIONAL AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TRI |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Unknown |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1519 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 753 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 25 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TRI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1519 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 35 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Bright |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| 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) | -3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 300 |
| 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) | 447 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 7 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1213 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 9:50AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2200J |
| NTSB Number | ATL96LA045 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32-RT-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-32-RT-3 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32R798504 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 6 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 51 |
| Airframe Hours | 2944 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SIR SPEEDY LANCE-A-LOT, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 109 REYNARD DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | CHARLOTTESVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 22901 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | STEVEN A WALTERS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2111 MICHIE DR. APT. #122 |
| Operator City | CHARLOTTESVILLE |
| Operator State | VA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 22901 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BHM |
| Departure City | BIRMINGHAM |
| Departure State | AL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 115 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CHO |
| Destination City | CHARLOTTESVILLE |
| Destination State | VA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| 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 | 5 |
| Runway Length | 8000 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |