Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Troy Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Troy, Alabama 36081
Wednesday, July 17, 1996 18:10 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane had been grounded the day before the accident after loss of engine power during takeoff, followed by a successful forced landing on the runway. The airplane had been refueled at the FBO just before the engine lost power. Two mechanics, examined the airplane. The airplane was checked okay, test flown, and remained at the airport overnight. The next day, a pilot arrived to return the airplane to Eglin Air Force Base. The pilot took fuel samples from the main sump, and 'found approximately 2' of water and sediment in the bottom of the sample.' He drained the right tank and stated that he 'found approximately 1' of water and sediment and 1/4' fuel....' He took several more fuel samples, and 'found the fuel to be all clean.' The pilot decided to fly in the traffic pattern before departing for Florida, to test the airplane. He performed an engine run up and found everything 'normal.' He flew twice around the airport traffic pattern, and was on takeoff at an altitude of about 200 to 300 feet above the ground (AGL), when the engine lost complete power. The pilot elected to land in a small field south of the airport, but the airplane struck trees, nosed over, and came to rest upside down. A postaccident test-run of the engine was performed. The engine operated normally above 1500 RPM to 2200 RPM, but it would not idle below 1500 RPM. The carburetor was removed from the engine and examined. The examination revealed water in the bowl, and dirt inside the carburetor.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
fuel contamination, which resulted in loss of engine power, a forced landing, and impact with trees. A factor relating to the accident was: inadequate maintenance and/or inspection after the previous loss of engine power and forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/17/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1810 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | TROY |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 36081 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | TROY MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TOI |
| 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 | 250 |
| Airport Elevation | 397 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 2 |
| 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 | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 608 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 17 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2115 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6481L |
| NTSB Number | MIA96LA188 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| 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 | 15284412 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 23 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 55 |
| Airframe Hours | 5281 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | EGLIN AERO CLUB/USAF |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | POB 1588 |
| Aircraft Owner City | EGLIN AFB |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32542 |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | TOI |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1800 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | VPS |
| Destination City | EGLIN AFB |
| 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 | 25 |
| Runway Length | 5010 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |