Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Birmingham, Alabama 35211
Monday, December 16, 1996 7:19 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
When queried after takeoff, the pilot informed ATC that the left engine was not developing full power, and that he was having difficulty in maintaining altitude. The pilot was attempting to return to the departure airport when the airplane collided with trees and a chimney, then it crashed in a residential area. Examination of the left and right engine did not reveal any condition that would have caused an operational problem. Neither propeller was in the feather position. Two work orders had been signed off on the day of the accident; one indicated that the airplane was in an airworthy; the other (with a later invoice number) indicated that the airplane was not in an airworthy condition. A review of pilot log sheets showed that the pilot had prevously flown the Piper PA-34 between 1/13/86 and 10/6/91; since that period, he had only flown it once, which was on the day before the accident. Reportedly, during that flight, he had flown the airplane for one hour, but did not practice emergency procedures.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
failure of the pilot to follow emergency procedures and feather the malfunctioning engine, which led to a forced landing and subsequent collision with a chimney (residence) and the terrain. His lack of recent experience in make/model of aircraft was a related factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/16/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 719 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | BIRMINGHAM |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 35211 |
| 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 | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 813 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 50 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BHM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 644 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 7500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | -12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| 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 | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1686 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 16 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 830 |
| 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 | N872SD |
| NTSB Number | MIA97FA040 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-34-200T |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-34-200T |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 34-7970319 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4570 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 16 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 1711 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GULF SHORES FLYING SERVICE INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 2287 |
| Aircraft Owner City | GULF SHORES |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 36547 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | F AND B AVIATION INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2117 2D AVENUE NORTH |
| Operator City | BIRMINGHAM |
| Operator State | AL |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 35203 |
| 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) | Executive/Corporate |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | BHM |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 711 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PNS |
| Destination City | PENSACOLA |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| 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 | -- |