Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Springhill Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sarepta, Louisiana 71071
Tuesady, July 15, 1997 10:33 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The VFR cross country flight was airborne for approximately 5 hours when the airplane impacted terrain in a hilly wooded area following a loss of engine power. The aircraft flight track was erratic with numerous heading and altitude changes and meandering in the vicinity of the Springhill NDB. The current Sectional Aeronautical Chart, found in the cockpit, showed the Springhill NDB at the airport. The NDB was found to be geographically located 3.8 miles south of the airport. Flight control and engine continuity were confirmed. Examination revealed that the integrity of the fuel system was not compromised. Twenty-three ounces of fuel were found in the left tank, zero ounces in the right tank, and 2 ounces in the fuel gascolator. An engine run did not produce any evidence that the engine was not capable of operating prior to the accident. The toxicology was positive for levels of 1.081 ug/ml methamphetamine detected in the blood and 6.293 ug/ml methamphetamine detected in the liver. At these levels, Dr. Canfield is of the 'opinion that the pilot would have been severely impaired.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's impairment (drugs) resulting in his becoming disoriented and the ensuing loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. Factors were the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing and the inaccurate navigation chart.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/15/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1033 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | SAREPTA |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 71071 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SPRINGHILL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SPH |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 193 |
| Airport Elevation | 218 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 956 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 210 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SHV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 258 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 34 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1744 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 16 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1910 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N777TU |
| NTSB Number | FTW97FA269 |
| 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 | M20C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | M20C |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3128 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2575 |
| 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 | Jan 1 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | 3176 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | THOMAS W. WHITE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3635 HACKERVILLE ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | CIBOLA |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78108 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 3R5 |
| Departure City | NEW BRAUNFELS |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 536 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CKV |
| Destination City | CLARKSVILLE |
| Destination State | TN |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| 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 | 36 |
| Runway Length | 4002 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |