Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Guntersville Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Guntersville, Alabama 35976
Saturday, January 17, 1998 18:50 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The passenger stated that he was in the left front seat and reported that he was flying the airplane when the pilot shut the engine down as a simulated engine out. The airplane was about a mile south of the airport when the practice emergency was attempted. After the total loss of engine power, the pilot attempted to restart the engine. When the engine failed to restart, the pilot took the flight controls and elected to ditch the airplane in the river. The left magneto was removed from the engine assembly and bench checked at an approved FAA repair station. The bench check disclosed that the left magneto produced ignition sparks from each ignition lead. After several failed attempts to start the engine, the left magneto was removed again. The second examination disclosed that the secondary side of the magneto coil was inoperative. The magneto coil was replaced with a serviceable component. The engine operated normally after the left magneto was installed. Examination of the right magneto disclosed that the secondary coil was also inoperative.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's intentional shut down of the engine in flight that resulted in the total loss of engine power. A factor was the failure of both magnetos.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/17/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1850 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | GUNTERSVILLE |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 35976 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | GUNTERSVILLE AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 8A1 |
| 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 | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | 610 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1956 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HSV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 650 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 54 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Bright |
| 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) | 1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 750 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 292 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 17 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2223 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 31 2002 3:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\ZUZL |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7443G |
| NTSB Number | ATL98LA033 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 150L |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 150L |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 150-74657 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 28 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4002 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | VINCENT J. HENRY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 636 OLD MORTON ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | ALBERTVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 35950 |
| 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 | 8AO |
| Departure City | ALBERTSVILLE |
| Departure State | AL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1815 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2001 6:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 2 |
| Runway Length | 3360 |
| Runway Width | 95 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |