Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Griffin Spalding County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Griffin, Georgia 30224
Monday, October 14, 1996 9:40 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Ten minutes into the flight, and while on a visual approach for a full stop landing, the pilot reported that the engine developed a rough running condition. The procedures attempted by the pilot to restore flight sustaining engine power, failed. The pilot selected a forced landing area. During the landing roll, the airplane collided with a fence, and came to rest adjacent to a state road. Fuel samples were collected from both main fuel tanks and the fuel selector at the accident site. An additional fuel sample was collected from the fuel tanker at the departure airport that refueled the airplane. The examination of the fuel samples from both main fuel tanks disclosed an abnormally high level of contamination and an abnormally cloudy visual appearance. The samples contained sand, rust and small pieces of fuel tank sealant. In addition to the debris found in the two main fuel tanks, unidentified organic debris was found in the fuel sample collected at the fuel selector valve. The examination of the fuel injector filter assembly disclosed an abnormally high level of coarse debris contamination. The origin of the debris found in the fuel system was not determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Fuel system contamination that resulted in fuel starvation and subsequent loss of engine power. A factor was rough terrain at the emergency landing site.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/14/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 940 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | GRIFFIN |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30224 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | GRIFFIN SPALDING COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 6A2 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 13 |
| Airport Elevation | 958 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 956 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 195 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ATL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1026 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 40 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| 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) | 1525 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1658 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 14 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1015 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:24AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6434Q |
| NTSB Number | ATL97LA005 |
| 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 | Mooney |
| Aircraft Model | M-20F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | M-20F |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 670513 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2740 |
| 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 | Jun 22 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 50 |
| Airframe Hours | 3145 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CALDASO INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6 NORTHLAKE DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | PEACHTREE CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30269 |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | FFC |
| Departure City | PEACHTREE CITY |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 930 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 6A2 |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| 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 | 13 |
| Runway Length | 3301 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |