Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mountain Meadows Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Harwinton, Connecticut 06791
Sunday, May 5, 1996 10:17 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Water was found in the fuel tanks during preflight, and additional draining was accomplished until no more water appeared. The pilots boarded the airplane and initiated a takeoff, at which time, the engine sputtered, and the takeoff was aborted. After the airplane cleared the runway, the engine lost total power; attempts to restart it were unsuccessful. The airplane was pushed to the operator's hangar where the operator inspected the airplane. Additional water was found in the tanks, which was drained, then the engine was run. The operator said the airplane was, '...OK to fly...', and the pilots boarded the airplane for departure. Once they were airborne, about 200 feet high, the engine lost power. During the forced landing, the airplane struck a power line and descended to the ground where it nosed over. When the airplane was placed upright, additional water was found in the tanks. Examination of the fuel farm, where the airplane was refueled, revealed the filter was collapsed, and the fuel was contaminated with water. The FAA reported the operator did not have a fuel management program in place or the appropriate equipment to maintain a fuel farm. According to the airplane manufacturer, '...If excessive sampling is required, the recommended procedure is to completely defuel, drain and clean the airplane fuel system, and attempt to discover where and how the contamination originated before the airplane flys again....'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the operator's failure to eliminate water-contaminated fuel from the airplane, which resulted in the loss of engine power and collision with an obstacle during the forced landing. Also causal was an improperly maintained fuel storage facility.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/5/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1017 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | HARWINTON |
| Event State | CONNECTICUT |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 06791 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | MOUNTAIN MEADOWS |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 22B |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 10 |
| Airport Elevation | 1020 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 945 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 112 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HFD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 19 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 16 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| 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 | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1038 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 5 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1320 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:01AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N25414 |
| NTSB Number | NYC96LA096 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 152 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 152 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15280642 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1670 |
| 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 | Jul 25 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 96 |
| Airframe Hours | 3422 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | B PECK FLYING INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1389 W MAIN STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | WATERBURY |
| Aircraft Owner State | CT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 06708 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | ATLANTIC AIR |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 529 BURLINGTON ROAD |
| Operator City | HARWINTON |
| Operator State | CT |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 06791 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 22B |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1016 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 | Emergency landing |
| 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 | 1 |
| Runway Length | 3420 |
| Runway Width | 40 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |