Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
North Pickens Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Reform, Alabama 35481
Thursday, December 5, 1996 18:50 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight had been airborne 12 minutes when the airplane had a total engine failure. The pilot was given vectors to an airport and was advised that the airport did not have lighting available. About 1 mile from the airport the pilot could not find the airport in the dark and said, 'I'm going for the dark spot....' Radio and radar contact was lost, and there was not further communications with the pilot. The pilot of another airplane on the frequency was vectored to the airport, circled over the airport about 10 to 15 minutes after the last transmission from N8603N, and he attempted to activate the runway lights. The pilot of the other airplane said that after four to five unsuccessful attempts he saw a vehicle arrive at the airport and the lights went 'on.' A witness had observed the airplane at a low altitude west of the airport, and said; '...it was like it was gliding... no sound...and was descending lower and lower...I didn't see anything, I didn't hear the sound of an airplane. The engine or anything....' The engine, the fuel injection system, the fuel found in the airplane, were all examined, and no discrepancies were found. Both magnetos were tested on a test stand, and the tests revealed that both the coils from each magneto were found cracked and leaking. The aircraft's logbooks showed that the last entry and the last annual were performed on 8/1/88. Since 1988, the airplane had flown a total of 30 hours. No ferry permit was issued for this flight, and no maintenance was performed before the flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
a complete loss of engine power due to a total failure of both magnetos, and the failure of the pilot-in-command to insure that the airplane was airworthy. The dark night and unsuitable terrain were factors.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/5/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1850 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | REFORM |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 35481 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | NORTH PICKENS |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 3M8 |
| 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 | 270 |
| Airport Elevation | 237 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1755 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 280 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CBM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 219 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1705 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 5 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2045 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8603N |
| NTSB Number | MIA97FA031 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA32-300D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA32-300D |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32-7140055 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 1988 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | 6658 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WEST FLORIDA AIR INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1000 N. HERCULIES |
| Aircraft Owner City | CLEARWATER |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34625 |
| 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) | Ferry |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | M40 |
| Departure City | ABERDEEN |
| Departure State | MS |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1827 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | TPA |
| Destination City | TAMPA |
| Destination State | FL |
| 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 | 18 |
| Runway Length | 5143 |
| Runway Width | 80 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |